Apple Maps gets natural language search in iOS 26 beta — what that means for your navigation

2 hours ago 3

With the public beta for iOS 26 now available, more people are testing the new features coming to the iPhone—and it turns out there are some hidden iOS 26 tools that Apple didn't even announce.

One that should make your Apple Maps experience better is the addition of natural language search via Apple Intelligence, one of the better AI tools coming to your iPhone.

Spotted by 9to5Mac, Maps will get a new "Search the Way You Talk" option in Apple Maps that lets you use natural language for searches like 'Find cafes with free Wi-Fi.'"

Testing natural language in Apple Maps

Screenshot of Apple Maps in iOS 26 public beta with natural language search

We did some testing of natural language search in Apple Maps and found that currently, it's a bit hit or miss.

In one search we tried, "Parks with playgrounds" and Apple Maps did provide suggestions like "parks with a good rating" or "parks with boat ramps."

However, not every test worked cleanly. Typing "24-hour diner" brings up results. But trying "all-night diner" brings back no results. So your natural language will vary.

There are somethings that Apple may not have in its Maps data. Attempting "parks with restrooms" turned up zero results.

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From our testing, there are more natural search terms but as with everything in these betas, it is a work in progress.

Unannounced but an improvement

iOS 26 logo on top of the interface of an iPhone

(Image credit: Tom's Guide / Shutterstock / Apple)

Apple never announced this feature was coming but apparently it's available now for beta testers. It may have even launched with the first iOS 26 public beta, and not the current iteration.

I did check on an iPhone 16 Pro that has not been in the beta program, and could not find the natural language search there, so I do believe this is currently only an iOS 26 beta feature.

Apple added natural language search to other iOS apps like Photos with iOS 18 and the introduction of Apple Intelligence. We tested it out then and were surprised by the results.

"This is a much better approach to finding photos," my colleague Tom's Guide editor Philip Michaels wrote. Though he did caution that it too still felt like a work in progress.

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