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.