New places bring new adventures. Whether you are visiting a new city or simply trying to explore the area you live in, the Nearby feature in Apple Maps looks to help you find the best locations around. With the ability to select categories like, Food, Entertainment, Shopping, and numerous sub-categories, Nearby hopes to be the best digital tour guide on the market.
How to use the Nearby feature in the Maps app in iOS 9
You can access Nearby by either going all the way to the left on the home screen to reveal Proactive Search or by opening up Maps and tapping inside the search bar. Both the methods will show you the Nearby by icons.
Now it is time to make a decision. What are you looking for? Since I enjoy a fair amount of entertainment, let’s see what kind of entertainment is around. Tap on the Fun icon in the Nearby section.
By tapping on Fun, we are taken to a whole other menu that has a bunch of sub-categories that we can now choose from. Below the Nearby icons, Apple Maps has already curated a list of popular locations in the Popular Nearby section. You can select one of these options or stick with the sub-categories.
Back in the Nearby section select an option or tap the X to go back to the main Nearby section. Once you select an option the Map will be revealed and you’ll see pins of the locations listed below.
You can scroll through the list using your finger. You can also hide the list to reveal the full-length map. When you decide on a place, tap on it from the list and that Pin will open its tab.
Tap on the name of the location (the white section) to reveal more information. You can also jump to walking or driving directions from that information page. If you don’t need any information, simply tap on the directions (blue section) to begin routing your trip.
Nearby is really useful for getting to know all the good places around you. It can be enabled at anytime, so if you are feeling adventurous make sure to give it a whirl. You can find parks, cool bars, and even gyms with just a few taps.
How does Apple’s Nearby feature compare to Google Maps? Let us know in the comment section.
Check out the iOS 9 page for our comprehensive coverage of all the new and hidden iOS 9 features.
