As Americans slowly begin to come out of our COVID quarantine for more than a year, our navigation skills may not be as sharp as when the lockdown took effect in March last year. In Monday's WWDC 2021 keynote speech, Apple announced a series of new features for its Maps, even the most easily lost among us can safely navigate in the unfamiliar external world.
To start, Maps is sporting a heavily upgraded UI that offers additional details like elevation as well as brighter road colors, more prominent labels, and hundreds of custom icons for area landmarks, like Coit Tower (above) or the Golden Gate Bridge. There's also a slick night-time mode that bathes everything in subdued blue hues.
Maps' depictions of roadways have also been improved with greater levels of detail and highlights to pedestrian infrastructure to help drivers better navigate complex inter
Transit riders also have new features to crow about. If you ride the same bus to work every morning, you'll now be able to pin that route to the top of Maps for easier access. You'll be able to track your commute progress on your Apple Watch so you won't have to keep flashing your iPhone on the crosstown — your Watch will even buzz a notification when you reach your stop. And if you find yourself discombobulated when stepping out of an unfamiliar subway station, Maps can now pinpoint your location by capturing a couple images of the buildings and landmarks around you.
These features will be rolled out to a specific number by the end of 2021, the number of cities in North America and Europe will increase, and more locations will arrive next year.