I avoided Apple Maps for trip planning — but these iOS 18 features are changing my mind

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

While a lot of people prefer Google Maps, Apple Maps does a lot of things well, at least in my experience with using the built-in navigation app on my iPhone.

Giving turn-by-turn directions, listing business operating hours, serving up trail maps for national parks — these are all things right in Apple Maps' wheelhouse.

In contrast, using Maps to plan trips ahead of time can be a little hit or miss.

Better searching

searching Near Area on Map feature in iOS 18 Maps — (Image credit: Future)

Here's a common scenario: I'm looking up a place for my trip — maybe the place I'm staying or a sight I'm planning to visit — and I want to search for something else in the vicinity.

Let's say that after doing a little sightseeing, I'll want to grab some lunch, and I anticipate having a hankering for tacos. So I want to look up taquerias around the area where I'll be to consider my options.

And that presents a potential problem. By searching for taquerias, Maps might think I want to see the ones near where I am right now — not the ones where I'll be when I'm on my trip.

iOS 18 clarifies exactly where I want to search by adding descriptions in the search field. Now when I type in "taquerias," Maps will show two different options — taquerias that are nearby and taquerias that are "Near Area on Your Map."

Both those labels do exactly what they say. Nearby shows me what's around me right now. Near Area on Your Map displays search results for the particular area I'm looking at, even if it's not my present location.

Search Here in Maps

Search Here button in iOS 18 Maps — (Image credit: Future)

That may not even be the best tool for trip planning that's now a part of iOS 18 Maps. The updated software also features a Search Here button that can let you expand your search to different areas.

Sticking with that taqueria example, let's say I scroll my way over to another part of town — hey, I like to know where to get tacos.

Some taqueria locations may pop up automatically, but if they don't, there's now a Search Here button that appears at the bottom of the screen. Tap that, and Maps will search the new area of the map for the same thing you were looking for before.

This is an excellent addition for trip planning, as you could use Search Here to look up different hotels in different parts of a city to see which ones are near the points of interest your hoping to visit. Or you could search for restaurants in different parts of the map to plan out where you'd like to eat during your trip.

Apple Maps in iOS 18 outlook

Are these big changes? Not really, but they do make Maps more useable for tasks beyond driving directions. Should they have been in Maps previously? Probably, but the important thing is they are there now.

Maps doesn't enjoy the greatest of reputations largely because of a rocky launch, when Apple first split from Google Maps to offer a navigation tool of its own. But the app steadily improved over the years, and it's good to see that more than a dozen years after its launch Apple is still finding ways to bolster Maps.

More from Tom's Guide

Philip Michaels is a Managing Editor at Tom's Guide. He's been covering personal technology since 1999 and was in the building when Steve Jobs showed off the iPhone for the first time. He's been evaluating smartphones since that first iPhone debuted in 2007, and he's been following phone carriers and smartphone plans since 2015. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics, old movies and proper butchery techniques. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.