The Plans app: routes and landmarks

Finding your way, avoiding traffic jams, locating a business, planning a public transport route: the iPhone’s Maps app is a daily companion, often underused. Many only use it to start a car route, unaware of everything it can do: public transport, walking, saved landmarks, exploring the surroundings, and much more. Free and integrated, it’s also designed to respect your privacy. Here’s how to get the most out of the Maps app for moving around and navigating, and what you need to know about location tracking.

Everything the Maps app can do

The Maps app is much more than just a car GPS; it’s a complete tool for moving around and discovering. Calculate ROUTES: by car, on foot, by public transport, and sometimes by bike; it guides you step by step with voice instructions. Avoid TRAFFIC JAMS: it takes real-time traffic into account to suggest the fastest route and warn you of slowdowns. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: in many cities, it displays bus, metro, tram lines, schedules, and connections; very practical for getting around without a car. SEARCH for places: find an address, a business, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a gas station nearby; often with opening hours, reviews, and contact details. EXPLORE the surroundings: discover what’s around you (food, sights, services). SAVE places: mark your favorite spots (home, work, favorite places) to find them and start a route with one gesture. SHARE a place or your route: send an address to someone, or share your estimated arrival time. View in 3D or map view: different ways to visualize, sometimes with detailed views of certain cities. PLAN a route in advance: search for a route from home before leaving. What is it for? To MOVE efficiently (car, public transport, walking); to FIND places and services; to not GET LOST; and to PREPARE your routes. A key advantage: PRIVACY; Apple’s Maps app is designed to limit the collection of your movement data (processing that protects your privacy), which sets it apart from some alternatives; this is a non-negligible point when you know how sensitive movement data is. The main idea: the Maps app is a complete, free travel tool—far beyond just a car route—managing public transport, walking, place searches, saved landmarks, and exploration. Often underused, it’s worth discovering its possibilities. And its privacy-respecting approach makes it an interesting choice for traveling without sharing all your routes. Just go beyond the “car GPS” use to make it a true mobility companion.

How to use the Maps app effectively

Here’s how to make the most of Maps every day. Start a ROUTE easily — search for a destination (address, place name), choose the mode (car, walking, public transport), and start navigation; voice instructions guide you step by step; real-time traffic adjusts the route. Explore PUBLIC TRANSPORT — to get around the city without a car, choose the public transport mode: the app suggests lines, schedules, and connections; a real asset for urban trips. SAVE your key places — save your home, work, and favorite spots; this way, you can start a route to them with one gesture, without retyping the address each time. SEARCH for what you need — type “pharmacy,” “restaurant,” “gas station,” “parking” to find what’s around you, with opening hours and information. PLAN your routes in advance — before leaving, search for your route calmly at home; you leave knowing the way and travel time. SHARE a place or your arrival — send an address to someone for a meeting, or share your estimated arrival time with a loved one waiting for you. Use VOICE — you can ask the voice assistant for directions (“take me to…”) without touching the screen, very useful in the car (our guides control their devices with voice). Explore VIEWS — switch between different views (map, 3D) as needed; some major cities offer very detailed views. Manage LOCATION — the app needs your position to guide you; understand location settings (see precautions) to use it while controlling your privacy. Think about CONNECTION and battery — navigation consumes battery and data; when traveling, plan to recharge; some features may require a connection. Some TIPS: save your key places (daily time saver); explore public transport (not just the car); and plan your important routes in advance. In short: start routes in all modes (car, public transport, walking), save your key places, search for nearby services, plan your routes, share places and arrival times, use voice, and master location settings. The Maps app thus becomes a true mobility companion.

The right reflex. If you only use the Maps app as a “car GPS,” you’re missing the essentials. Take the time to discover its two most useful daily features. First reflex: SAVE your key places. Save your home, workplace, and favorite spots (at loved ones’, a regular store): once done, you can start a route to them with one gesture, without retyping the address; this is a significant daily time saver. Second reflex: explore modes other than the car, especially PUBLIC TRANSPORT. In many cities, the Maps app displays bus, metro, and tram lines, schedules, and connections; it’s an excellent companion for getting around the city without a car, planning a public transport route, or finding the best line combination. The WALKING mode is just as practical for navigating an unfamiliar neighborhood. Another valuable use: NEARBY SEARCH — type “pharmacy,” “restaurant,” “parking,” “gas station,” and the app shows you what’s around, with opening hours and useful information. Also, PLAN your important routes in advance, calmly at home, to leave knowing the way and estimated time; and use VOICE (asking the voice assistant for directions, without touching the screen, is much safer in the car). Finally, a word about privacy that sets this app apart: Apple’s Maps app is designed to limit the collection of your movement data, making it a respectful choice when you know how sensitive our routes are. Save your places, explore public transport and walking, search around you, plan and share your routes: this is how the Maps app goes from simple GPS to a true daily mobility tool.

Location and privacy

A mapping app needs your POSITION to guide you: this is normal, but it involves sensitive data—your movements—so let’s understand how it works and how to control it. Why the app needs your POSITION: to locate you on the map, calculate a route from where you are, and guide you in real time; without access to your position, the app can’t perform its main function. Apple’s advantage on PRIVACY: Apple’s Maps app is designed to PROTECT your movement data; it limits data collection and the association of your routes with your identity (technical mechanisms blur the link between you and your movements); this is a notable difference with some mapping apps that widely exploit your location data for advertising purposes; for those who care about privacy, this is a strong point. Managing LOCATION settings: you control when apps access your position; in your iPhone’s privacy settings, you can choose, for each app, whether it has access to your position “never,” “while using the app,” or “always”; for a navigation app, “while using the app” is a good compromise (it locates you when you use it, not continuously). PRECISE POSITION: you can also choose to provide a precise or approximate position depending on the app; for navigation, the precise position is useful. Be careful with POSITION SHARING: sharing your position or estimated arrival time with a loved one is practical, but think about who and for how long (our guides master position sharing). SENSITIVE DATA: your movements reveal a lot about you (where you live, work, your habits); that’s why it’s important to use a respectful app and master the settings; don’t share your position lightly, and check occasionally which apps have access. HISTORY: be aware that some features may save a history of your places; explore the settings to manage this according to your comfort. In short: the Maps app needs your position to function, which is normal; Apple’s app has the advantage of being designed to protect your movement data; master location settings (“while using the app” is a good choice), think before sharing your position, and keep in mind that your routes are sensitive data. Properly configured, the Maps app guides you effectively while respecting your privacy.

Warning: your movements are sensitive data — master location and position sharing. A mapping app legitimately needs to know your position to guide you; this is normal and essential. But keep in mind that your MOVEMENTS are among the most revealing data about you: where you live, where you work, where you go, when, what your habits are. This information therefore deserves to be protected. Good news: Apple’s Maps app was designed to limit the collection and exploitation of your movement data, unlike some mapping apps that, for their part, widely exploit your routes for advertising or commercial purposes; in this regard, choosing a privacy-respecting app is already a protection in itself. Beyond the app choice, two settings deserve your attention. First, LOCATION: in your iPhone’s privacy settings, you control which apps access your position and when. For a navigation app, the “while using the app” option is a good compromise: it locates you when you use it to guide you, but not continuously in the background; beware of apps (especially others) that demand “always” access to your position without valid reason. Check occasionally the list of apps with access to your location, and disable access for those that don’t need it. Then, POSITION SHARING: sharing your position in real time or your arrival time with a loved one is very practical (for a meeting, to reassure someone waiting for you), but think about WHO you share this with and FOR HOW LONG; permanent position sharing with many people is not trivial, and it’s good to know how to stop it. Therefore, only share your position with trusted people and preferably temporarily. Finally, be aware that your frequent places and history may be saved: explore the settings to manage them according to your comfort. The Maps app is an excellent mobility tool; by mastering location and position sharing, you fully enjoy it while keeping control over information that is very close to your privacy.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Maps app handle public transport?

Yes, in many cities, and it’s one of its most useful features, often overlooked by those who only use it for the car. When you search for a route, you can choose the PUBLIC TRANSPORT mode: the app then suggests possible routes by bus, metro, tram (and sometimes train), with the lines to take, schedules, connections, and estimated travel time. It’s an excellent companion for getting around the city without a car: it tells you which line to take, where to transfer, how long it will take, and even guides you on foot between stops. Availability and information richness depend on your CITY: in large urban areas and many mid-sized cities, public transport coverage is good; in less served areas, it may be more limited. Some cities even offer real-time information (next departures, disruptions). To use it: search for your destination, select the public transport mode, and let yourself be guided; you can also plan your route in advance to know the schedules. It’s particularly practical in an unfamiliar city, where the app saves you from deciphering complicated maps. Note that for public transport, other specialized apps (those of local transport networks) also exist and may offer even more precise information for a given network; but the Maps app has the advantage of being integrated and covering many cities in one place. In short, don’t reduce the Maps app to car navigation: it also guides you very well by public transport and on foot, making it a truly complete mobility tool for the city.

Does the Maps app respect my privacy?

On this point, Apple’s Maps app stands out with a design that cares about your privacy—it’s even one of its selling points. A mapping app needs your position to guide you, which is normal; the whole question is what it DOES with your movement data. Apple’s Maps app is designed to LIMIT data collection and exploitation: it implements mechanisms that try not to permanently associate your routes with your identity, to minimize what is saved, and not to exploit your movements for advertising purposes. This is a significant difference with some other mapping apps, whose business model relies more on exploiting their users’ data. For those who are attentive to their privacy—and our movements are very revealing data—this is a real strong point. That said, “respectful” doesn’t mean you have nothing to manage: you remain in control of your iPhone’s LOCATION settings, where you choose which apps access your position and when (“while using the app” is a good choice for navigation). You also decide whether and with whom you SHARE your position, which is best done sparingly and with trusted people. And you can explore the settings regarding frequent places and history to adjust them to your comfort. In short, yes, the Maps app is designed to respect your privacy, making it a wise choice; but still keep good habits (mastering location, sharing your position with caution), as no app replaces your vigilance over these sensitive data that are your movements.

How to save your favorite places to save time?

Saving your key places is one of the best habits to save time daily with the Maps app: once your usual spots are memorized, you can start a route to them with one gesture, without retyping the address. The principle: the app lets you save favorite places (often grouped under a “Favorites” section) and define special places like your HOME and WORK. To save a place: search for it (by address or name), display its card, and look for the option to add it to your favorites or save it; you can give it a meaningful name. To define your home and work, the app usually offers to enter them, which is very practical because it can then, with a simple tap, suggest the route back home or to the office. Once these places are saved, they appear in quick access: you just have to select them to start navigation, with real-time traffic. This is a real daily time saver, especially for repetitive trips. You can save as many favorites as you want: your favorite spots, those of your loved ones, a regular store, a regular meeting place. A small privacy precaution: saving your home is practical, but keep in mind that this information (especially “home”) is sensitive; make sure your iPhone is well protected (lock code, biometrics) and your iCloud account secure, since these favorite places are linked and synced to them. In short: take a few minutes to save your home, work, and favorite places: it’s a one-time effort that saves you time on every trip, by starting your usual routes with one simple gesture.

What to remember

The iPhone’s Maps app is a complete, free travel tool, far beyond the simple “car GPS” that many reduce it to. It calculates ROUTES in all modes (car with real-time traffic, public transport, walking, sometimes biking), manages public transport in many cities (lines, schedules, connections), allows you to SEARCH for places and services around you, SAVE your favorite spots, EXPLORE the surroundings, and SHARE a place or your arrival time. To get the most out of it: save your key places (home, work, favorites) to start your usual routes with one gesture; explore modes other than the car, especially public transport and walking; use nearby search to find what you need; plan your important routes in advance; and use voice for hands-free guidance, safer in the car. A distinctive advantage of Apple’s Maps app: it’s designed to RESPECT your privacy, by limiting the collection and exploitation of your movement data, while some alternatives widely exploit them. This is a strong point, as your MOVEMENTS are sensitive data that reveal a lot about you (home, work, habits). Still keep good habits: master your iPhone’s LOCATION settings (“while using the app” is a good choice for navigation, and check which other apps access your position), and especially, only SHARE your position with trusted people and preferably temporarily. Secure your iPhone and iCloud account, to which your favorite places are linked. Often underused, the Maps app can become a true daily mobility companion: it guides you effectively, helps you discover your surroundings, and respects your privacy better than many alternatives. Just go beyond the “car route” use to discover all its richness—while keeping control over location and position sharing.