The maps app on your iPhone can make sure you are never lost again. It does more than just point out directions though, it can also help you stay out of congested traffic and find the smoothest routes to get to wherever you are going.
For getting general directions from your Maps App on your iPhone, tap on the app from your Home Screen, then you can either tap on Search or Directions to enter the address of where you want to go. You can also find a local resource and get directions, such as tapping on “Coffee shop” or “Library”. For a general search such as that, the locations will show up as red pins on your map and you can choose which one you would like directions to by tapping on it.
When you have the directions you need to get to where you want to go on your maps app on your iPhone, you can choose what kind of view you want by tapping on the up-turning page icon in the lower right hand corner of your iPhone’s screen. You will see four options on the page that peel back including Map, Satellite, Hybrid, and List. Then, you can tap on the option you prefer.
The Map format option for directions in your Maps app on your iPhone is the standard version and looks like a traditional map that has your route, location, cities, towns and highways laid out onto it. The satellite option will give you a real world view of your driving directions including buildings, streets and terrain that you can zoom in and out of to get a close up view of where you are going. The Hybrid option shows the map and the satellite so you can see city and highway information and the real world view of the map. This option takes the longest to load. Finally, there is the list option and that will pull up a list of your directions without the map and will not include any traffic conditions.
Speaking of traffic conditions, being able to view these in your driving directions can save you a significant amount of frustration if there are delays caused by inclement weather, road construction, or accidents because you can choose alternative routes to avoid them. To turn this feature on, just tap the arrow button in the bottom left hand corner of your iPhone’s screen after you have got directions to where you are going. Then, tap the up turning page icon on the bottom right hand corner of your iPhone’s screen so the page will peel up to reveal the options. Tap on Show Traffic to see the conditions.
When you have chosen Show Traffic for your driving directions, you will notice up to three different colored lines appear. The green line along your driving route means that traffic is running smoothly, a yellow/orange line means that there is some congestion or traffic is running slower than normal and a red line means there is heavy or slow traffic. When you see the yellow/orange lines or red lines, you can choose alternate routes if you choose to in order to avoid the delays or traffic jams.