This Apple Maps Feature Lets You Compare Routes To Google Maps

Most iPhone users likely default to Apple Maps for their travel navigation needs, not only because it comes preinstalled in the mobile device, but it's got a pretty easy to use interface. Upon launching the app, you can immediately access everything you'd need through the Search card. It lists your favorite places, recent destinations, and buttons to easily share or mark your location through a dropped pin. When you type in the address of a business establishment, you can find out its hours of operation, customer ratings, and other pertinent information at a glance. When you tap the car icon, the map app will give you several route options to choose from. In addition, Apple Maps also has several commuter-friendly features that are worth noting, namely the ability to navigate inside certain malls or airports and get detailed schedules for public transit.

Although iPhone users can rest assured that they'll get to where they need to go using their device's built-in navigation service, it's a good idea to have a couple of Apple Maps alternatives installed as well. This way, they can get the best possible directions that have the fewest obstacles and takes the least amount of time on the road. Google Maps would be a good pick for this, as Apple Maps actually has a feature that lets you share and compare travel options between the two platforms.

When you enter a destination into Apple Maps on your iPhone, as previously stated, you'll be provided with a few route options, arranged according to trip duration, with the fastest route listed first. To verify if Apple Maps is suggesting directions similar to Google Maps, tap on one of the route suggestions (not the Go button). This will pull up the details of your selected route. Scroll down to the very bottom and hit Share. Finally, tap Routing Apps.

Jam Kotenko/SlashGear

This should pull up a list of navigation apps that are compatible with Apple Maps. If you have Google Maps installed on your iPhone, it should be the top suggestion. Hit Open next to Google Maps to port your selected route over to the map app. When Google Maps launches, it will immediately highlight what it thinks is the fastest route to your destination following your set travel preferences. In the example below, the option to avoid tolls and highways was enabled on Google Maps and was left off on Apple Maps, so the suggested fastest route on the former app seemed to take longer.

Jam Kotenko/SlashGear

However, after the extra preferences were switched off, both apps revealed almost the same and most efficient way to get to the chosen location.

Google Maps is highly regarded as the most popular navigation app available today, and it helps that it's compatible with iPhones despite being an Android product. It has many seemingly hidden features that may not be available on other map apps. It also undoubtedly has the most precise real-time location information, courtesy of the massive amount of on-the-ground and satellite data it has collected over the years.

If you are an iPhone user, the ability to quickly transfer directions from Apple Maps to Google Maps could be a useful feature because by default, addresses sent through most iPhone apps — namely Messages, Apple's built-in text-messaging platform — when clicked, usually automatically open in Apple's default navigation app. If you prefer Google Maps or are curious if it has better or more accurate route suggestions than what Apple Maps is offering, you can quickly compare direction results without having to manually re-enter the address on the non-Apple map app.

Apple's support page on how to select route options only briefly mentions the ability to share directions as a list. However, it fails to mention the option to share it to a different map app, so this could be a fun travel hack to employ every time you go on a trip. Based on testing, however, it doesn't look like Waze is listed as a compatible routing app, which is a shame if you are a fan of its community-based navigation services. There are, however, other lesser-known third-party alternatives that you can install and share Apple Maps routes to, if you need more variety.