Updated Apple Maps can now tell you where you parked your car

If you’re a person who often forgets where you parked, Apple may have your answer. A new feature expected to come to its native Maps app with the iOS 10 update aims to make drivers’ lives easier by reminding them where they parked their vehicles.

The reminder will automatically drop a pin to locate the car’s stationary position when the destination is somewhere other than the user’s home address. A parked icon will be displayed in Apple Maps, along with an option to get directions and an estimated arrival time. An option to edit and tweak the accuracy of the pinpoint will also be available if needed.

But the parked car feature is just one of the several new changes expected to occur within Apple Maps. During the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the company also announced that the app will be opened up to third-party developers to allow specific tasks to be performed right from the map, such as booking a table at a restaurant or requesting a ride via Uber.

Apple Pay will be supported in Maps and users will have the ability to search for a variety of services along a particular route. Apple Maps is also expected to be smarter and pull data from a user’s calendar to automatically suggest a route or recommend nearby suggestions, such as a restaurant.

For those concerned with privacy issues, Apple Map’s technology ensures no one else can track the user’s movements. When users open Maps, Apple produces a generic device identifier and pulls information using that, rather than an Apple ID. Midway through the journey, the app generates another random ID and associates the second half of the trip with the identifier. Apple also edits trip data, ensuring the information on origin and destination are not stored.

The software update will be available to iOS users this fall.

Source: TechCrunch