iOS 26 rollout introduced a multitude of fresh updates to Apple’s mobile interface, with Apple Maps being one app that garnered considerable focus. A new Visited Places feature allows you to easily identify repeat restaurants, shops, and other locations that you often revisit.
Additionally, a feature called Preferred Routes has been added, which remembers the routes you frequently take to provide alerts for your daily commutes. However, a noteworthy change that will influence user interactions with iOS Maps is a natural language search capability integrated directly into the application.
Driven by Apple Intelligence, the natural language search harnesses AI technology to enhance your Apple Maps search experience. There’s no need to delve into settings to activate this feature, as it is seamlessly incorporated into the Apple Maps code.
Users who update to iOS 26 will encounter a pop-up upon launching Maps that states, “Search The Way You Talk.” This paves the way for more engaging and conversational search methods, with prompts such as “Where’s the best Chinese food near me that’s open late?” or “Locate a café with free Wi-Fi on my route to work.”
