Earlier this week, Tim Cook and his team unveiled an array of new and updated hardware and software at Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference in San Jose. And while we were busy raving about Apple Maps getting indoor mapping capabilities and a Do Not Disturb While Driving mode, a small but momentous feature of the upcoming iOS 11 almost managed to skip our attention (majorly because it wasn’t explicitly announced). Apple is going to give its users a greater control on their location privacy.
You know how apps like Uber and Waze force you to choose between ‘Always’ or ‘Never’ sharing location data? Choosing never puts a dent in the functionality of the apps. And you are basically arm-twisted into compromising on your privacy, should you choose to use such apps.
Related: Uber was tracking your iPhone even after you deleted the app
Well, all this will change when iOS 11 becomes available later this year (the rollout begins in September). A new feature that has been spotted in the developers’ preview shows that Apple is putting its foot down on apps that don’t give users a choice to control their location data. iOS 11 is coming with ‘While Using The App’ location setting for all apps.
All you will need to do is go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and change the location rights of individual apps to make sure that you are sharing your coordinates only when you are actually using the app. Now, this is a relief for privacy conscious users who have been creeped out by Uber unnecessarily poking its nose into their business. Phew!
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Many a times when we navigate with Google maps to an alien city which is added with a compromising GPS accuracy, we are confused whether to take this left turn or the next left and to realize that we will have to take a U-turn as we had already crossed the required one. Assuming majority are confused whether they are travelling in the right direction or not, Google Maps’ recent update has come to the aid.
The visual improvements
Amidst Google I/O 2017, Google silently rolled out the new update that puts a visual prompt first noticed by Android Police. Google Maps now provides street view images for turn-by-turn navigation so that we can ensure that we take correct turns. Google maps have also added a location info tab at the bottom which doesn’t make a great difference in terms of navigation but lets users to easily switch to the directions tab which was previously represented by FAB (Floating Action Buttons).
How does the navigation work?
Well, the working doesn’t require any additional efforts from the user. When you enter your location and destination, the navigation begins. The bottom of the screen displays the route info and the preview option in a much identifiable way than the previous versions. On touching upon the route info all the navigation turns are displayed coupled with street view images that can be swiped across to view the 360 degree surroundings. Moreover the street view image is oriented along the navigation route i.e., the images are displayed from the Driver’s point of view. With all such in-depth updates, it’s hard to claim yourself lost en route!
