Google Maps is rolling out several new features to iOS and Android users this week, focusing on improved navigation and travel planning tools.
A new prominent "Add stops" button is being added alongside the Start button with the idea of simplifying route planning: It displays restaurants, gas stations, and points of interest along the way. This week's update also introduces weather disruption reporting, allowing drivers to mark and avoid hazards such as unplowed roads, flooding, or low visibility conditions.
In addition, arrival assistance is getting enhanced. Google Maps will now highlight nearby parking lots and prompt users to save their parking location. The app can then provide walking directions to the final destination using AR Live View navigation.
A more substantial navigation update is scheduled for next month, launching in over 30 metropolitan areas. This enhancement will provide clearer visualization of lanes, crosswalks, and road signs, with a blue line indicating the correct lane position during turns and merges.
Looking further ahead, Google has announced plans to integrate its Gemini AI technology into Maps in the coming months. This feature will allow users to ask natural language questions about locations and receive curated recommendations based on data from over 250 million places worldwide. The AI implementation will also provide summarized reviews and detailed answers about specific venues.
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year.
In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July.
Transparency
In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors.
Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each.
iPhone 17 Series
iPho...
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year.
As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display
iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further.
Apple has a web page with a list of vehicle models that ...
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
New renders today provide the best look yet relocated Apple logo and redesigned MagSafe magnet array of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Image via Majin Bu.
Several of the design changes coming to the iPhone 17 Pro model have been rumored for some time, such as the elongated camera bump that spans the full width of the device, with the LiDAR Scanner and flash moving to the right side.
...
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes.
With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID.
If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models.
Latest Rumors
These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
The first company that puts out a maps app that allows you to select avoids like "no unprotected left turns across giant roads at a stopsign with no light", and "no turning left out of a parking lot across giant roads" (which really is a subset of the first), will win my vote. I swear to god Apple Maps is constantly thinking that holding up an entire parking lot full of traffic so that *I* can turn left is somehow a good idea.
Even though these are good features, Google Maps is nothing more than my fail safe in case I can't find something on Apple Maps.
Which means Google Maps is the better product, if that's the one you go to when you need things to work correctly? Apple Maps has definitely gotten better, but this isn't really a good argument for it.
Here's a feature suggestion: Don't sell my location data to the entire planet.
In order to keep a minimum of privacy I cannot recommend Google Maps at all. Your location data is pretty expensive compared to your what's app conversations...
The data economy is growing fast with AI.
Apps don't need to be Maps apps to be collecting and selling your location. All apps that display ads are collecting it through their ad servers. At least with a Maps app you're getting some value for yourself as well, instead of the company getting all the value.
Apple is too restrictive with app capabilities in CarPlay. If Google Maps can’t include additional features in CarPlay, it feels almost pointless. Many people now connect their phones to their cars instead of using them as standalone navigation devices, especially with the prevalence of CarPlay.
GM isn’t 100% for me. Local driving it doesn’t matter, but in unfamiliar territory I always cross check the navigation against a different source. YMMV.
Google Maps once told me to use any lane of the 6-lanes-each-way freeway I was currently on, to make an immediate U-turn.
Apple Maps was rushed out the door because (IIRC) Google wanted access to creepy amounts of information about people using the Maps app, when the contract came up for renegotiation. Since then, it has improved by several orders of magnitude. I think a lot of the people claiming that Apple Maps is bad and Google Maps is great... haven't really tried using Apple Maps in a very long time.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
