Apple may be planning some big additions for Maps in iOS 10
Apple Maps could be receiving some big additions in iOS 10. According to a new report from AppleInsider, the fleet of vans supporting the effort have been spotted more frequently across the United States, even late at night.
Tons of sensors
If you don’t remember, the Apple Maps vans are pretty easy to spot with a number of sensors like camera, LiDAR, and other specialized GPS equipment. Apple even posts where exactly the vehicles will be appearing.
Apple maps van rolling around Boston pic.twitter.com/klngX9ycBw
— Matt Karolian (@mkarolian) January 23, 2016
The site speculates that the increased activity could mean that Apple is planning to add something similar to Google Street View in the app:
That program is likely to include both ground truth operations as well as environmental capture. The former verifies that roads are where the map thinks they are; the latter scans and collects data on the surrounding area, including depth maps and photographs.
Getting better
Apple added transit directions and more to Maps in iOS 9.
We’re likely to receive our first glimpse of iOS 10 at the Apple’s annual WWDC conference sometime in June.
Since a rocky debut with iOS 6 in 2012, Apple has continued to put more resources into the project, leading to a much more stable and better experience.
With iOS 9, Apple added a number of new features to Maps, including public transit directions. On your iOS device’s lockscreen, it will also automatically show an ETA and traffic information to popular destinations that you often travel to during the day.
Back in December, Apple noted that Maps was used three times as often as its “next leading competitor” on iPhones and iPads. That competitor was assumed to be Google Maps.
For other news today, see: Apple’s Sunnyvale campus isn’t a quiet neighbor, Stream all your favorite music videos with Vevo on Apple TV, and Survive the vast universe in Ellipsis, a stunning puzzler.
