Neil Hughes
The Apple Maps Glance for Apple Watch has been reimagined with watchOS 2.2, providing users with quick links to directions to their home, work, nearby locations, and more.
Previously, the Maps glance in watchOS just showed a small map with the user's current location. That's changed in the first beta of watchOS 2.2, however, as the Apple Maps glance now presents four quick options for directions:
- Home
- Work
- Search
- Nearby
The first two options will automatically present users with directions from their current location to home or work, depending on what is entered in their "Me" card on iPhone. If no address information has been entered, the Apple Watch informs the user that they must complete the "Me" card.
Tapping "Search" from the Apple Maps glance offers the options "Dictation" and "Favorites," as well as a list of recently searched locations.
Finally, the "Nearby" selection presents users with a number of options based on categories. In the first beta of watchOS 2.2, those are:
- Food
- Drinks
- Shopping
- Travel
- Services
- Fun
- Health
- Transport
From there, each category offers a number of subcategories. For example, under "Food," the options are "Popular," "Restaurants," "Groceries," "Fast Food," Coffee," "Bakeries," and "Desserts." From there, selecting a subcategory presents a list of local options along with user star ratings for each.
watchOS 2.2 is currently in a pre-release beta, available only to developers for testing.
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Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
3 Comments
This looks like a good idea. It extends the functionality of Watch as a more convenient intermediary device between the user and the phone.
The one feature I'm looking for, which has been available with the Pebble since it first came out years ago, is a notification on my watch that tells me I left my iPhone behind, at home, in the restaurant, etc. Since the watch does display a red rectangle with a line across it when I lose the Bluetooth connection, why doesn't it buzz me to warn me that my expensive iPhone is no longer with me?
If this resonates with you, don't hesitate to ask Apple to fix this:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/