iOS 27: all the new features of Apple Maps
The Maps app hasn’t received as many iOS 27 updates as some of Apple’s other apps, but there are still several useful features worth knowing about.
Hover Improvements
Apple upgrades Flyover in iOS 27, making it more detailed than before. It combines aerial images with Vision Intelligence models to add more texture and sharper visuals for trees, architecture and more.
Apple says some cities around the world are rendered in sharper, more realistic detail, with improvements made to everything from “the shape of individual trees to the way light reflects off the glass of skyscrapers.”
Flyover is an Apple Maps feature that offers detailed 3D landmarks, roads, parks, buildings and more in over 350 cities. The current version of Flyover uses aerial images captured by planes, but the new version iOS 27 improves the quality thanks to AI.
New cards icon
Apple updated several of its Liquid Glass app icons in iOS 27 to add more glass-like layers. The icons have more depth and the Maps app icon makes the difference particularly clear.
Local listings
Local listings use intelligent information about trends around you to suggest places you should visit. Maps surface collections of locally relevant places to make it easier to find popular and interesting places to visit.
Local listings are privacy-focused and do not use information linked to individual users. This is a US-only feature.
Trendy restaurants
In the search interface, there is a Trending Restaurants section that shows you the best restaurants in the area you are in.
Expansion of natural language search
Natural language search in Maps now lets you request directions that avoid toll roads or highways.
On Apple Watch, there’s a new Car Parked widget in the Smart Stack so you can easily see the last known location of your car, with information synced from iPhone.
Offline maps
Apple says offline maps have improved in iOS 27. More locations are shown on the map, labels are darker and lighter, and some icons are easier to see at a glance. When you tap on a location, like a city, it will automatically zoom in on the area so you can see what’s there.
Places visited
The Visited Places feature is more accurate in iOS 27 and is less likely to miss locations. Places Visited keeps track of the places you’ve visited, organizing stops by category and location. It can be accessed by tapping your profile photo, choosing Places, and selecting Places Visited.
Visited Places also expands to more locations in iOS 27.
More iOS 27 Features
To learn more about what’s new in iOS 27, we have a dedicated roundup.
