Apple Maps Ads Move Closer to Launch With iOS 26.5 Beta 2

[MacRumors]

With the second beta of iOS 26.5, Apple is continuing to prepare for ads in the Apple Maps app. There's a new splash screen in the app that says it will display ads based on approximate location, current search terms, or a view of the map when searching. Ads will also be shown in the "Suggested Places" section that was added in the first beta.

Apple says that advertising information is not linked to an Apple Account to preserve user privacy, so ads viewed and interacted with will not be associated with an Apple Account. Data is not collected or stored by Apple and not shared with third parties, according to Apple.

Signs of ads in the Maps app were spotted in the first beta, but iOS 26.5 testers could start seeing ads with the second beta. It's not yet clear if Apple has just implemented the splash screen, or if ads are going to begin showing up in the near future.

Apple announced plans to introduce ads for the Maps app back in March, with ads set to roll out to the public "this summer." Apple plans to include ads in the Maps app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac in the United States and Canada.

Ads in Apple Maps will have an "Ad" label, much like ads in the App Store.

Article Link: Apple Maps Ads Move Closer to Launch With iOS 26.5 Beta 2

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

And I'll be getting directions to the nearest alternative.

 

[pigeonguy]

Sad 🙁

Why do companies obsess over profits so much. Just be happy with being profitable at all.

******tification…

 

[CharlesShaw]

Reminder: if you stay angry you don't have to get angry. 😉

 

[pigeonguy]

And I'll be getting directions to the nearest alternative.

To be fair, what alternative? The only one I know of also has ads.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I bought Apple stuff to get away from cruddy ads like this. Bummer they’ve contaminated their product with this crap.

 

[skiguy45]

Opt out would be nice

 

[maruyama]

As much as Cook has been a good CEO for the most part, every now and then he falls back into COO mode and comes up with something that makes financial sense but that a good CEO should veto for the bigger picture of the brand and the customer experience.

 

[rchaser]

Do not fear, my fellow worshippers!

An ad-free subscription is coming!!

 

[jarman92]

Apple: "Everyone update to iOS 26.5!"
Users: "Omg are we finally getting those AI features you promised 2 years ago?!"
Apple: "Lol no. But you will be getting our awesome new ads in Maps!"

 

[decimortis]

To be fair, what alternative? The only one I know of also has ads.

I use Waze with CarPlay and I haven't seen an ad pop up.....yet.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

and back to the same comment I make every time this topic gets brought up…
This hasn’t been a thing for like a decade now?
I swear there have been advertisements within Apple Maps since like, iOS 9.

 

[SanderEvers]

Sad 🙁

Why do companies obsess over profits so much. Just be happy with being profitable at all.

******tification…

That's how captialism works, sadly. Number must go up.

 

[ZZ9pluralZalpha]

It's part of their green energy initiative: attach magnets to Steve's corpse, hurl the HIG and respect for users out the window, gain emissions-free energy!

 

[rchaser]

They should just sell product placements in AVP instead.

You know, you’d see a bag of Doritos and a coke on your table or desk in the background.

Never mind. No one uses AVP.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Ew brother, ewwww

 

[unregbaron]

Sad. Will discourage me from using it even more. Google Maps has ads but works much better for me in the UK.

 

[Docsta80]

This is so pathetic by Apple lol. If they were hurting for money I could see this making sense. This simply just cements my position with using Google Maps. Far superior anyways.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I use Waze with CarPlay and I haven't seen an ad pop up.....yet.

Even if you continue to use Apple Maps, you will never see an ad “pop up” because that is not the type of ads they are using.
These are nothing but special highlights within search results, nothing more.
Although the comments on the original article about how it would be a “safety risk” and fear mongering about Apple randomly putting up full 60 second video ads while you are driving down the street was pretty funny.

 

[Zenman12]

Bend over. Time for some seamless no intrusive ads. In Apple seamless font. It’s not too bad. I promise.

 

[delsoul]

And Apple can prepare for me to ditch Maps. As if Apple wasn’t already greedy enough.

 

[jz0309]

Now if ads start to pop up while using Maps in CarPlay - that would be really really bad.
If it happens while not using CarPlay and while searching for place of interest, might be ok.

If it's like in the App Store, searching for a particular app and another shows up on top of search results, that's irritating but not a showstopper. So will have to see what they're coming up with

 

[Soonerpet]

Another benefit to staying on iOS 18 I guess. I haven't moved to 26 on any of my devices thankfully.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

It's part of their green energy initiative: attach magnets to Steve's corpse, hurl the HIG and respect for users out the window, gain emissions-free energy!

Steve was literally pushing for an advertisement based operating system all the way back from 1999 until as late as 2010, he was not your savior.
He literally had a patent for showing a 60 second video advertisement on every Mac boot, from 1999.
The idea that he wouldn’t eventually do this is laughable, of course he would. He wasn’t dumb.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

As much as Cook has been a good CEO for the most part, every now and then he falls back into COO mode and comes up with something that makes financial sense but that a good CEO should veto for the bigger picture of the brand and the customer experience.

Is there an example of a CEO of that type running a company the size of Apple? In my thinking, (understanding that Tim Cook will be gone SOME day) there’s no current CEO that would reject this idea.