- A new AI search function has been seen in Apple Maps
- It is available in the last beta developer of iOS 26
- A complete launch of the software is expected in September
As the beta versions of the updated iOS 26 continue to be implemented, we are detecting new features in the software that Apple has not officially announced: yesterday they were Airpod load lights, and today it is a search for AI in Apple Maps.
The 9th5google team has seen that the Apple Maps search function now encourages users to “look for the way you speak”, so you can write or talk a search such as “find coffees with free Wi-Fi”, for example.
This is now live in the fifth beta version of the developer of iOS 26, so you will not see it if you are running the public beta. It could also be adjusted or even retired before the final version of iOS 26 launches in September, although it seems likely to stay here.
Without a doubt, it is an easier and more intuitive way to look for places, if you need to go beyond the basics and specify some additional criteria for your results, such as access to Wi-Fi, food options, electric vehicle load, wheelchair access or whatever.
Apple maps vs google maps
It is possible that the new functionality has only passed live in the US at the moment, because after updating my iPhone to the iOS 26 Beta 5 developer, I could not obtain the natural language search function to appear in Apple Maps here in the United Kingdom.
What he could do was execute a search similarly on Google Maps, and the results were somewhat irregular: he identified the coffees without any problem, but listed several that definitely do not offer free Wi-Fi (and I have been in them and asked).
It shows a limitation in characteristics of AI, which is that although AI could be excellent for understanding what it is asking for and turning your words spoken into text, it still depends on the data of cold and hard maps to obtain precise results.
In terms of unprocessed data, Google Maps may still have the advantage over Apple maps, but updates such as IOS 26 will mean that Apple Maps becomes more attractive and useful, and it may be enough to catch some Google Maps users.
