14 DAY TRIAL // A new function in iOS 7 will enable regular iPhone and iPad users to lend Apple a helping hand in its struggle to deliver a top-notch mapping experience on iOS devices.
The ill-fated launch of iOS Maps in 2012 has forced Apple to scramble and recruit dozens of new people (as well as entire companies), to repair its mistakes and make the service a true rival to Google Maps.
Apple is making progress in this area, but it wants even more people to pitch in and help out with the work-in-progress Maps application.
To do so, Apple plans to get the actual iOS customer to help out with the sourcing of location-based metadata.
In iOS 7, regular users of an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, will be greeted by a pop-up that states “Help Improve Maps?” Three options will be presented: Allow, Learn More… and Don’t Allow.
Users who choose affirmatively will agree to allow Apple to use their “frequent locations” to improve Maps. Customers will also have the ability to change this setting at any time in the Settings panel.
To ensure that customers fully understand how their location data is being processed, Apple includes a short description of the effort under the Learn More… option.
“If you choose to enable Improve Maps, Apple will correlate the street address associated with your Apple ID with the GPS coordinates obtained through the Frequent Locations feature on your device,” according to the memo.
Apple explains to the customer that this will allow the Cupertino giant to better approximate the geographic location of that particular address.
“While Apple will use both your Frequent Locations and Apple ID information to perform the initial correlation, Apple will only retain the resulting coordinates in an anonymous form to improve Maps and other Apple location-based products and services,” the company outlines.
The note again states that users can turn off this feature at any time, complete with instructions on how to do so.