Location

New TomTom Go Mobile app gives you 50 miles of free offline navigation each month

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2016

TomTom, a Dutch company that produces navigation and mapping products and one of Apple Maps data providers, today released a brand new real-time traffic information and navigation app on the App Store.

Dubbed TomTom Go Mobile, the free of charge software is now available globally and shares the same user interface as the TomTom GO satnav app. The app lets you drive up to fifty miles, or 75 kilometers, every month free of charge.

Upgrade to unlimited driving are available through the In-App Purchase mechanism.

Everything you need to know about the location services built into your Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 23, 2019

Not long ago, we took you through an overview of the location services settings that come with your iOS device and told you all about how you can increase your privacy by configuring your location services wisely.

It's worth noting, however, that even your Mac uses your location for certain things; and with that in mind, you may want to look at your location services settings on your Mac to make sure you're limiting what you need to limit and are only allowing location services for the things you actually use.

In this walk-through, we'll explain the location services settings that come with macOS and tell you all about what might be using your location in the background.

Understanding iOS Location Services and what they do

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 8, 2020

Location services are among some of the most over-used features on any iOS device. Out of the box, iOS devices with location services enabled are configured to track your location in various reasons, including producing the best user experience possible.

In this guide, we'll show you all about how to configure your iOS location services so that you're not being tracked when you don't need to be, giving you the privacy you deserve.

How to keep your iPhone from knowing where you are going next

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated January 16, 2018

Your iPhone is equipped with a feature called Frequent Locations, which slowly tracks your location in the background to keep you updated via the Today View and the Lock screen on how long it would take you to get to your favorite places based on how often you visit them.

If you choose to enable Location Services during the initial iPhone setup, this feature will be enabled by default, so if you feel like it is a slight hindrance on your ability to remain private, you just might be right. In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can disable the feature and keep your iPhone from knowing where you are going next.

How to disable suggested places for Siri and Spotlight Search on iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 17, 2025

In this post, we'll tell you how to disable suggested locations in Siri and Spotlight Search on your iPhone or iPad if you don't find them useful.

Swarm by Foursquare brings expanded 3D Touch gestures, plus new Always, Nearby or Mute settings

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2015

Foursquare's dedicated location check-in app, Swarm for iPhone, was among the first third-party apps to implement support for 3D Touch, allowing you to quickly check-in to places simply by pressing the app's Home screen icon firmly and choosing the Check In shortcut.

In its most recent update that launched in the App Store today, Swarm brought out expanded support for 3D Touch gestures with Peek and Pop on other people's check-ins.

This edition of Swarm also includes expanded mute options and lets you earn even more virtual coins when you add certain stickers to your check-ins.

Waze gains 3D Touch shortcuts on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Google-owned social-mapping and traffic service Waze today pushed an update to its iPhone application in the App Store, adding handy shortcuts available upon pressing its Home screen icon on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Waze's 3D Touch shortcuts provide access to popular features like address search, location sharing and turn-by-turn navigation based on your work and home address on file.

Foursquare revamps iPad interface, adds Peek and Pop gestures on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 11, 2015

Foursquare's main iOS app was refreshed earlier today with some new 3D Touch goodies and a redesigned interface on the iPad. Foursquare for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad was part of the initial wave of third-party applications that enabled support for handy Home screen shortcuts via 3D Touch on the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Today's update added 3D Touch-based Peek and Pop gestures, meaning you can now preview content within the app and pop right into it, without lifting a finger off the screen.

Secret Apple app lets you map out building interiors using your iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

Apple has a secret app in the App Store which allows some iPhone users to map the interior of a building using their handset. First discovered yesterday by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, an app called Indoor Survey has been available on the App Store since last week.

The software is currently hidden in the App Store and is not operational, suggesting that the official launch is around the corner.

Basically a funnel for Apple's MapsConnect website, the app appears to act as a crowdsourced Ground Truth service aimed at improving the accuracy of Apple Maps data when it comes to indoor maps.

How to disable Location History on Facebook to extend iPhone battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Yesterday, Facebook issued an update to its main iOS client to help extend your iPhone's battery life by preventing it from playing audio silently in the background.

File the move under the 'too little, too late' drawer: if history is anything to go by, waiting for Facebook engineers to deliver a fully battery-friendly iOS app might be a fool's errand.

The biggest contributor to Facebook's infamous battery drain has got to be the app's continuous monitoring of your location, which continues after leaving the app. In this tutorial, we'll teach you how to prevent this by disabling a feature called Location History, thereby helping reclaim some of the juice lost to the battery-hogging app.

Boston transit data and Amtrak routes for Northeastern U.S. launch on Apple Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 19, 2015

In addition to bringing Yellow Pages-powered business listings to Apple Maps customers in Canada, the Cupertino firm has apparently refreshed a Maps backend in the United States, adding transit directions for Boston and multiple Amtrak routes in the Northeastern United States.

The longest Amtrak route available runs from Chicago to New York. As first noted by MacRumors, other supported routes with transit directions include the Northeast Regional, Acela Express, Keystone, Lake Shore Limited, Pennsylvanian and Maple Leaf.

Apple partners with Yellow Pages on local Maps business listings in Canada

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

Apple and Yellow Pages have partnered to bring Apple Maps customers in Canada rich business data like address, phone numbers, URLs, category, hours of operations, photos, ratings, reviews and more.

“We are pleased to bring our YP.ca local business listings data to Apple Maps,” said Matthieu Houle, Vice-President, Digital Media of Yellow Pages, in a media release Monday. Apple's Maps acknowledgements page now lists Yellow Pages as a data provider in Canada.