Apple maps to get download rating system and photo uploads for places of interest

The latest iOS 14 beta 6 includes a new way for users to view interesting places and upload photos to Apple Maps that do not rely on third-party integrations.

Images via Twitter user BeauGiles
First spotted by Twitter user BeauGiles and reported by 9to5Mac, the new user interface for places of interest in Maps no longer attracts reviews and photos from the likes of Foursquare, TripAdvisor and Yelp. Instead, Apple replaces these third-party services with its own native rating system.

In advance, users who tap a marker for a place on the map they have physically visited will be offered the option to recommend a place with a thumbs up / thumbs down rating that may also differentiate between relevant categories, such as ratings for the quality of products and services in a store, for example.

Meanwhile, a new “Add Photos to Maps” option instead of maps also allows users to upload photos directly to Apple’s Maps servers. As stated in Apple’s legal terms for the new feature, the option appears only to users older than 13 years and photos are checked by people before they appear in ‌Apple Maps‌.

At present, the rating system is only visible in some places of interest in the latest ‌iOS 14‌ beta, because Apple is clearly still in the initial stages of implementing the feature. In the future, however, users would not be redirected to third-party apps in the App Store if they wanted to submit a review or photo of a place of interest in ‌Apple Maps‌.