Apple Maps expands Spotlight Suggestions to 3 new countries, adds Flyover and traffic locales

AppleInsider

Apple in an update to its Apple Maps product on Thursday rolled out new coverage areas for Flyover and traffic services, while activating Spotlight Suggestions in three countries.

The Spotlight Suggestions additions are arguably the most significant facet of today's services expansion. Now available in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the feature lets users search the web, iTunes, the App Store and local files from a single location, specifically Spotlight. The service is accessible on both iOS and Mac devices.

Flyover, Apple Maps' tentpole 3D imagery feature, gained coverage in two new locations as part of today's update, with the service now available in Akron, Ohio and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The feature combines high-resolution photographs with three-dimensional renderings to give users a birds-eye view of major metropolitan areas.

Finally, real-time traffic information is now available in Thailand. Like other navigation products, Apple Maps collects local road traffic data for display on iOS and OS X maps. The feature also ties in to iOS proactive assistance services that notify users when to leave for an appointment based on traffic conditions.

Today's changes were logged on Apple's iOS 9 feature availability webpage.

Apple has regularly rolled out updates to its in-house mapping service since the product launched on iOS in 2012. Earlier this month the company activated transit directions in Portland, Oregon and Montreal, and in March introduced five countries (1, 2) to Nearby search.

cashxx

Still can't see flyover on cities from the past two updates on 4 different computers and on my iPhone.  Don't get why not!

xixo

I ♥︎ Apple Maps - such a dramatic improvement over the initial release. I use it all the time.

After making calls and having Siri identify songs playing in public, Apple Maps is my most-used iOS application.

smiffy31

Am i the only one who finds flyover much clearer to use. I find street-view with the distorted images and the never knowing where to click and how far down the road I am going. I have a friend who does not live on a main road and I was able to flyover their house and down the country lane and over the small woods and lake, much easier to see a building in 3D than the flat distorted 2D of street-view.

wonkothesane

Maybe slightly OT:

I would like one thing to be added back to spotlight suggestions/news, and that's the ability to choose the region/country of news (and hey, maybe even be so bold and the actual sources themselves). The way I understand it works now is that it's tied to the selected iOS system language. Up to 9.2.something you could go into advanced region settings and "override" the country, hence getting news from the region selected there. 

Backhround: I much more prefer to use the iOS in English while living in Germany. So is like to see news from here, not the UK. 

roake

I'm waiting for the flyover map of North Korea.  That map will be interesting as there will be a hodgepodge of SCUDs in the air seemingly directed at the camera.