# Apple Maps in iOS 26: Understanding Your Patterns and Providing Proactive Delay Notifications
iOS 26 brought several improvements to Apple Maps, including a function aimed at learning users’ frequent routes and behaviors, potentially helping them avoid unanticipated traffic holdups.
## Understanding Your Patterns
With the release of iOS 26, Apple introduced a fresh feature for Apple Maps that emphasizes grasping users’ daily travel habits. Per Apple’s official site, the feature operates as follows:
> “Maps understands the routes you frequently take and can notify you of major delays, even before you leave. If your routine shifts, iPhone adjusts to it, enabling you to master your commute.”
This indicates that Apple Maps can dispatch push notifications about delays on your regular routes, ensuring you’re aware of potential problems prior to setting off. Moreover, the app can share timely route-related updates via the Maps ‘Suggestions’ widget.
## Activating the New Feature
To take advantage of this new functionality, users must agree through a permission prompt, demonstrating Apple’s dedication to privacy concerning location information. The prompt specifies that:
– Regular routes and anticipated destinations are learned and kept secure on the device.
– Only the applications selected by the user can access this data.
– These data points are not associated with the user’s Apple Account.
To agree, users must click the ‘Continue’ and ‘Allow’ buttons when prompted. If the prompt is overlooked, it can be activated by going to the Settings app, then selecting Apps > Maps > Location, where the option for ‘Preferred Routes & Predicted Destinations’ is available.
## User Experience
As users start to utilize this new feature in Apple Maps, feedback on its functionality and ease of use is encouraged. The proactive nature of the notifications aims to improve commuting experiences by delivering timely information that can aid in avoiding delays.
In conclusion, the new features in Apple Maps with iOS 26 strive to render navigation more intelligent and user-friendly by learning personal travel habits and supplying alerts that can assist users in better planning their travels.