Several Helpful New IOS Features
No Grid, No Problem – ever want to use your Apple Maps app but had no connectivity? Now you can use Offline Map when there is no connection provided you downloaded the map when you could connect. Apple has hidden this feature in the Maps app behind your icon/picture at the bottom of the map screen. Click on your avatar and select Offline Maps from the list. On the next page you can create a new map and download it. The maps will be 2-3 hundred MB depending on the area you select. When you download the map, you can use it and zoom in to see more detail such as street names and features even without any Wi-Fi or internet connection. Just grab it before you are off the grid.
Turn here – An apple watch upgraded to 10.0x has much improved directions. The Apple Watch has long had walking directions, of course, but I’ve always felt like they weren’t particularly useful, cueing you only to the next turn you were going to take, with little context about your surroundings.
In watchOS 10, Maps’ walking directions have gotten a significant and much-needed overhaul and it’s simply great. Rather than just providing text for your next turn, your Apple Watch will actually show you a bird’s-eye view of the map and your route along it. It’s a great use of the bigger and better display on recent Apple Watches and a far more useful way to navigate by foot. There’s no longer any need to pull out your phone.
With iOS 17 and tvOS 17 installed, you can finally track down that errant little slab of silver with the Find Remote feature. It’s a little tricky to find: You need to open the Apple TV Remote from Control Center, select the name of your Apple TV at the top, and then tap the Find button that appears. Then you’ll be taken to an AirTag-like interface where you’re told, Grover-style, whether you’re far from or near the remote. Haptics cue your progress until you’re alerted that the remote is “here” and prompted to look around.
Without an ultrawideband chip, this process isn’t as precise as with an AirTag, and the Siri Remote doesn’t have a built-in speaker to play sounds helping you zero in on its exact location, but at least it helps you narrow it down.
From MacWorld Magazine, Oct 2023.