Apple Maps Native Ratings System Coming to US Places of Interest, Perhaps as Early as Next Week

[MacRumors]

With the release of iOS 14 and macOS 11, Apple introduced a new way for users to review places of interest and upload photos to Apple Maps that doesn't rely on third party integrations like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

Users who tap a marker for a place on the map that they have physically visited are offered the ability to recommend a place using a thumbs up/thumbs down rating that can also distinguish between relevant categories, such as ratings for the quality of products and services in a shop, for example. An "Add Photos to Maps" option in place cards also lets users upload pictures directly to Apple's Maps servers.

As it stands, Apple's rollout of native ratings in Maps has been patchy, with users in the United Kingdom, Australia and a handful of other regions able to recommend places they've visited. Apple's in-house ratings remain unavailable for places of interest in the United States, for both users in and outside the country.

However, a brief shot from Tuesday's "Spring Loaded" Apple event, spotted by an eagle-eyed Redditor, suggests that could be set to change very soon. During the iMac announcement, Apple showed a macOS desktop screen with the Maps app open and a thumbs up/thumbs down recommendation option for Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.

Notably, the image shows that Yelp reviews are still listed, indicating that Apple is continuing to provide third-party recommendations alongside its own ratings system as it works to build up a database of crowdsourced reviews across the States.

While we can't be certain, the likelihood is that Apple will make native Maps ratings available for U.S. places of interest with the release of iOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3 sometime next week.

Article Link: Apple Maps Native Ratings System Coming to US Places of Interest, Perhaps as Early as Next Week

 

[DinkThifferent]

Good! Yelp is terrible, especially in countries that are not the United States of America. Here in The Netherlands some most recent Yelp reviews about a restaurant are 3 years old.

Glad Apple is improving this. I cannot wait to try this new Apple Maps feature in 2028.

 

[BF1M]

Yea Yelp is trash and I’m not sure why it still exists.

Hopefully we can eventually add our own pictures.

 

[jlwarlow]

I guess I'm one of the lucky UK users seeing this. I like the simple system and can't wait until more places are rated.

 

[Mike_Trivisonno]

Eventually Apple will remove this feature. Apple's Mommy Department will not be able to stand the fact that there are people who disagree with their socio-political leanings towards censorship and control. Just like they removed all the user reviews from the tvOS forcing users to seek this info from imdb or other 3rd parties. If you post a review or picture to Apple Maps that deviates even a little bit from tepid, it will be removed.

 

[ctdonath]

Good. Yelp is racist.

 

[qoop]

Good. Yelp is racist.

It's a rating system isn't it?

 

[bennyf]

If Yelp wouldn't force its app over the website I wouldn't really care that much either way. Where I am, Yelp reviews are usually pretty accurate: if a place has a bunch of "this place is filthy" reviews, it's almost always true.

 

[Adam Spicar]

So looking forward to this! Yelp has extortion practices and is a horrible business. Here in the US there are class action suits against them as well as many sad stories by business owners that were hurt and extorted by Yelp.
You can Google “Yelp extortion” to learn more. It’s thousands upon thousands of businesses that were affected by their dirty practices. Apple knows about it too, and I’m excited about Yelp being booted out.

 

[bchery21]

The sooner the better. Hate having to flip over to Yelp just to peep a photo.

 

[xxray]

Thank goodness. The Yelp reviews are often few and outdated and require a different app. But I hate using Google Maps for privacy reasons.

 

[Trager]

So looking forward to this! Yelp has extortion practices and is a horrible business. Here in the US there are class action suits against them as well as many sad stories by business owners that were hurt and extorted by Yelp.
You can Google “Yelp extortion” to learn more. It’s thousands upon thousands of businesses that were affected by their dirty practices. Apple knows about it too, and I’m excited about Yelp being booted out.

100% this. I am so tired of Apple helping to prop up Yelp’s shady business practices. Hopefully this is the first step in Apple handling their own POI info so that those of us who would prefer to never ever support Yelp can avoid them like the plague that they are.

 

[Scorch07]

Thanks goodness! As a small business owner, Yelp is absolutely horrendous to deal with. I've always thought it was odd that Apple would tie themselves to such a trashy company with Maps. Hopefully this works out well, but it's a step in the right direction regardless.

 

[bennyf]

I wonder how much Yelp has to pay to be the default Maps rating source. Like Google pays for search.

I bet it's a large number.

 

[BWhaler]

This is great news. Yelp sucks for users and is extortion for businesses. I hated everything I clicked on A review or picture in Apple Maps I would be taken to App Store to download Yelp.

Good riddance.

 

[samcan]

I always forget that Apple Maps is a thing. I just checked on a few listings and it seems like a great resource for out of date and inaccurate listings. It's one thing Google still has a comfortable lead on.

 

[GeoStructural]

This is welcome news, I hate to be prompted to install the Yelp app every time I click on a picture or a review.

I always forget that Apple Maps is a thing. I just checked on a few listings and it seems like a great resource for out of date and inaccurate listings. It's one thing Google still has a comfortable lead on.

Yes, Google Maps is still far superior, even if that causes some soreness around here, however I have to give Apple credit for acknowledging their shortcoming and working fast on making Maps better.

 

[_Spinn_]

I hope we can eventually turn off Yelp reviews.

 

[TimFL1]

I wonder how much Yelp has to pay to be the default Maps rating source. Like Google pays for search.

I bet it's a large number.

It‘s not. Here we have like 4 different providers for POI data… it‘s a gigantic mess. You could be looking at a street and 4 business are from different sources.

I hope this doesn‘t just roll out in the US… been dying to get a proper POI rating system since forever. Otherwise I‘ll continue to use Google Maps for POI searches.

 

[bluewalt]

Good! Yelp is terrible, especially in countries that are not the United States of America. Here in The Netherlands some most recent Yelp reviews about a restaurant are 3 years old.

Glad Apple is improving this. I cannot wait to try this new Apple Maps feature in 2028.

Exactly. There are basically no Yelp reviews in Europe anymore, as the company failed to grow there.
That's the only reason I keep using Google maps instead of Apple Maps.

 

[cmaier]

Yea Yelp is trash and I’m not sure why it still exists.

Hopefully we can eventually add our own pictures.

Yelp is great in certain places (big cities in the U.S., Silicon Valley) but terrible in others (in Marshall, Texas the last time I was there, fast food places and my dump of a hotel all got five stars

 

[Just sayin...]

I’ve been tricked by phony Yelp reviews a couple of times - you know, the kind where a sketchy restaurant pays shill reviewers to flood Yelp with false positive reviews. I’m hoping that maybe Apple can get a handle on that type of thing...

 

[javanate]

Thank goodness, no idea why Apple partnered with a trash company like Yelp to begin with.

 

[btrach144]

I hate Yelp, and it's integration in Apple Maps is my least favorite part of Apple Maps.

 

[pers0n]

Only a matter of time before the fake 5 star reviews get added and they find a way to delete the valid 1 & 2 star reviews