iOS 26 beta adds surprise Apple Maps feature that could prove very useful

Apple Maps has some compelling new features in iOS 26, but it seems there’s even more coming, as the beta now supports a powerful new feature that Apple never announced: natural language search with Apple Intelligence.

Apple Maps gains AI-powered natural language search in iOS 26

Early last month, iOS 26 beta code revealed that Apple was working on adding natural language search to Maps. However, code leaks regularly expose features in development that may not ever ship.

In this case though, Maps’ new search upgrade looks set to arrive much sooner than expected.

Available now in the iOS 26 beta, you can “Search the Way You Talk.”

Use natural language for searches like “Find cafes with free Wi-Fi.”

Apple has brought similar support for Apple Intelligence-powered search to other apps like Photos, Music, TV, and the App Store.

Even though Apple never announced that Maps would be gaining this capability too, it’s available now for iOS 26 beta testers. It’s unclear whether the feature was a server-side addition, or new in the recent beta 5.

To test AI-powered search out, I entered the following: “Coffee shops near Disney World that have Wi-Fi.”

The search worked, correctly parsing each detail of my entry and providing a list of results.

In my experience with other apps using AI-powered search, the upgrade is a substantial improvement over the old search feature.

For example, I use search in the Photos app all the time, and it’s gotten so much better since the Apple Intelligence upgrade. I’m excited to see a similar improvement come to Apple Maps.

Have you tried natural language search in Maps running iOS 26? Let us know how it goes in the comments.

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