With the release of iOS 14 and macOS 11, Apple introduced a new way for users to review places of interest and upload photos to Apple Maps that doesn't rely on third party integrations like Yelp and TripAdvisor.
Users who tap a marker for a place on the map that they have physically visited are offered the ability to recommend a place using a thumbs up/thumbs down rating that can also distinguish between relevant categories, such as ratings for the quality of products and services in a shop, for example. An "Add Photos to Maps" option in place cards also lets users upload pictures directly to Apple's Maps servers.
As it stands, Apple's rollout of native ratings in Maps has been patchy, with users in the United Kingdom, Australia and a handful of other regions able to recommend places they've visited. Apple's in-house ratings remain unavailable for places of interest in the United States, for both users in and outside the country.
However, a brief shot from Tuesday's "Spring Loaded" Apple event, spotted by an eagle-eyed Redditor, suggests that could be set to change very soon. During the iMac announcement, Apple showed a macOS desktop screen with the Maps app open and a thumbs up/thumbs down recommendation option for Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.
Notably, the image shows that Yelp reviews are still listed, indicating that Apple is continuing to provide third-party recommendations alongside its own ratings system as it works to build up a database of crowdsourced reviews across the States.
While we can't be certain, the likelihood is that Apple will make native Maps ratings available for U.S. places of interest with the release of iOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3 sometime next week.
Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay.
Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 7:39 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today shared some strongly-worded comments about Apple's delayed personalized Siri features. Gruber is a well-known Apple pundit who has been writing about the company for more than two decades.
In a blog post titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino," Gruber said Apple's credibility has been "damaged" by the delay:Keynote by keynote, product by...
Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited.
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the...
Thursday March 13, 2025 3:07 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to feature a significant design overhaul, and a new image apparently taken on an assembly line for the unreleased devices appears to confirm the biggest rumored change.
Render of an iPhone 17 Pro model shared by Jon Prosser
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to adopt a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of Google's Pixel...
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience.
Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
Thursday March 13, 2025 9:32 am PDT by Juli Clover
The Apple Intelligence features that Apple introduced with iOS 18 are not pushing people to upgrade their iPhones, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated today. Apple's recent Siri failures are also going to have an impact on 2025 iPhone shipments, which the market is beginning to realize.
As early as last July, Kuo said expectations that Apple Intelligence could drive iPhone upgrades were...
Thursday March 13, 2025 4:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple made a major misstep with the way that it handled the delay of Apple Intelligence features for Siri, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. Announcing the delay through a press statement was a bad decision, and Apple should instead have gone through official channels.
Kuo referenced the well-known "Antennagate" PR crisis when the iPhone 4 launched in 2010, and the way that then Apple...
Good! Yelp is terrible, especially in countries that are not the United States of America. Here in The Netherlands some most recent Yelp reviews about a restaurant are 3 years old.
Glad Apple is improving this. I cannot wait to try this new Apple Maps feature in 2028.
If Yelp wouldn't force its app over the website I wouldn't really care that much either way. Where I am, Yelp reviews are usually pretty accurate: if a place has a bunch of "this place is filthy" reviews, it's almost always true.
So looking forward to this! Yelp has extortion practices and is a horrible business. Here in the US there are class action suits against them as well as many sad stories by business owners that were hurt and extorted by Yelp. You can Google “Yelp extortion” to learn more. It’s thousands upon thousands of businesses that were affected by their dirty practices. Apple knows about it too, and I’m excited about Yelp being booted out.
