Apple and Parkopedia have announced a collaboration to bring an ocean of new parking spots to Apple Maps. Apple Maps will now display in-depth details on the type of parking facility, number of spaces, payment options, accessible spaces, availability of electric charging for cars like Tesla and more.
This is a major enhancement to Apple Maps. Parkopedia’s database consists of 40 million parking spots in 75 countries across 4 continents. Users can also search for information updated on prices, special offers, availability of space in real-time and read reviews on the Parkopedia website and iOS app. Users can start a focused search by using filters such as credit cards and timings and make a reservation for a guaranteed parking space. With this vital information at hand, users can plan trips in advance.
Parkopedia is also planning to add data of the cheapest available parking lots to Apple Maps. Apple has previously worked with other third party sources for parking data like Yelp, Acxiom, yellow pages and more. However, this partnership with Parkopedia will give Apple Maps a great edge over its rival service provider, Google Maps.
“Our combined footprint in the consumer and automotive space is huge and this opens the doors to delivering a world of innovative solutions”- Parkopedia’s CEO Eugene Tsyrklevich.
Apple Maps is still not available globally, despite replacing Google Maps as the default iOS mapping app in 2012. Many countries still do not have up to date data, directions, traffic or turn-by-turn navigation support. Flyover and 3D buildings are just aesthetic features which are not the highest priority on anyone’s list for a mapping solution. Apple Maps also lack a crowdsourcing feature like Google’s Map Maker, which allows users to submit corrections or changes for mapping data.
Until Apple Maps gets all these right, it is not a bad idea to keep Google Maps as back up on your iOS device.
