One change coming to Apple Maps in iOS 18 will highlight certain retail locations possibly to help users navigate.
If you’ve rolled the dice and decided to install the iOS 18 Public Beta release on your eligible iPhone device, you might have noticed something other than a drop-off in your battery life and some of the new features that we have written about. There has been a change made to Apple Maps that not all users are thrilled with. In iOS 18, some businesses, restaurants, and stores have larger fonts and icons helping them stand out on the map. Colored fonts are employed to make these places stand out.
Some of these locations were described as “suggested” or “sponsored” places according to Apple Maps users on Reddit. Apple is essentially highlighting these locations which stand out when compared to street names and other places which are printed in smaller gray and black fonts. This appears to be a way for Apple to monetize the Maps app and users are not happy with what they see as advertisements being placed all over the map.
