Apple Maps Rivals AllTrails on iOS 18 With New Hiking Features in U.S. - MacRumors
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Apple Maps Rivals AllTrails on iOS 18 With New Hiking Features in U.S.

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Just months after naming AllTrails the iPhone App of the Year in 2023, Apple has added new hiking features of its own to the Maps app on iOS 18.

iOS 18 Hiking Trails Feature
Apple Maps users in the U.S. can browse thousands of hikes across all 63 national parks in the country, filtered by length, elevation, and route type. Users can also create and save their own custom walking and hiking routes, with one-way, out-and-back, and loop routing options to choose from where available.

Apple Maps added topographic maps on the Apple Watch with watchOS 10 last year, and these maps are now available on the iPhone too with iOS 18. Topographic maps and hikes can be saved for offline access with turn-by-turn voice guidance.

These features are mostly limited to the U.S., but topographic maps are also available in Japan, according to fine print on Apple's website.

Here is how Apple describes all of the features:

Apple Maps introduces even more ways to explore the world, including hikes and custom walking routes. Users can browse thousands of hikes across national parks in the United States — filtered by length, elevation, and route type — and save them to use while offline. Users can also create their own custom walking routes with just a few taps to plan everything from a local exercise route to a full-day walking tour in a new city. Additionally, they can save their favorite national park hikes, custom walking routes, and places to an all-new Places Library, and add personal notes about them.

MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris exclusively revealed that these features were coming to Apple Maps on the iPhone earlier this year.

iOS 18 is currently in beta and should be released in September.

Tag: Apple Maps
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Top Rated Comments

R
robvalentine
24 months ago
Alltrails works around the world, and outside of national parks, so not really rivalling....
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
jasonsmith_88
24 months ago
AllTrails biggest selling point is user-generated content, being able to find unofficial routes and read reviews to determine conditions. Apple, for whatever reason, doesn’t engage in user-generated content, so this will never be a serious competitor to AllTrails.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kirky29 Avatar
kirky29
24 months ago
Why does this need to be an iOS 18 thing? Surely out of any app, updating a map should just be anytime and all the time?

I find the Apple approach to updating apps ridiculous. They’re apps, update them throughout the year like Google Maps, Spotify, Facebook and the rest.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J
JimmyHook
24 months ago

Perhaps Apple should also focus on the rest of the world. It’s so damn annoying that’s lots of features don’t make it to everyone right from the get go
I mean, the world is a big place. Especially when the task is mapping. It’s hard enough to roll any product out globally, let alone one that literally details the surface of the planet.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
Da_Shiznit
24 months ago
Perhaps Apple should also focus on the rest of the world. It’s so damn annoying that’s lots of features don’t make it to everyone right from the get go
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chungry Avatar
Chungry
24 months ago

Apple (or AllTrails): make a pay version available that includes satellite access... often when we're on trails we're off network. (AllTrails has downloaded maps, which we use, but are they accurate?)
All trails is plenty accurate. I tested it alongside a Garmin Edge 1040 cycling computer and my Fenix 6 watch. All of them work fine with just GPS. Apple Maps (downloaded) HOWEVER was always WOEFULLY inaccurate. When trying to get driving directions to a well-known trailhead I compared Waze, Google Maps and Apple Maps. The first two nailed it with Waze offering a crazy shortcut as it often does. Apple Maps wanted me to go 40 minutes in the wrong direction into town. These are common trials, well-traveled roads and all of it in or near a national park and daily populous city. Outside cities Apple Maps continues to be an also-ran option (and even still there are issues). We aren’t talking about remote locales either. It’s sad.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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