Much-enhanced parking space information comes to Apple Maps courtesy of Parkopedia

Apple MAps PArkopedia silver iPhone screenshot 001

Finding a parking lot in your area has gotten a whole lot easier with an announcement this morning from parking service company Parkopedia that its detailed parking data is now being used by Apple Maps across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Parkopedia offers detailed information on more than 40 million parking spaces in 75 countries and Maps users on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch can now view detailed information about parking garages and lots around the world.

By integrating Parkopedia data into Maps, Apple lets drivers find the closest parking garages and lots to their destination, see the number of parking spaces available, browse prices and more. Previously, Maps would only pinpoint nearby parking lots with a generic icon.

To start using Parkopedia integration, fire up Apple Maps on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and find a desired destination. Then, using the search field at the top, type in “parking” and Parkopedia-powered suggestions should appear.

Apple MAps PArkopedia silver iPhone screenshot 002

You can then tap any parking space to get more information like the number of parking spaces available, electric charging availability, payment options, height limits and hours of operation. In the future, Maps users will be able to sort search results by price, allowing them to easily discover the cheapest lots.

Additional features like pricing, user reviews, special offers, real-time space availability and paying for parking space is available via Parkopedia’s website and iOS app, accessible by following a link in Maps.

Apple Maps Marketing notes that Parkopedia was actually added as a new data provider for Apple Maps in March 2016 inside of the United States, as evidenced by the Apple Maps Acknowledgments webpage.

“Wikipedia of parking”

As mentioned, Parkopedia—also called the “Wikipedia of parking”—provides detailed static information on 40 million parking spaces in over 150,000 facilities across 6,000 cities in 75 countries around the world. Its rich data includes real-time parking space availability information in over 500 cities in 30 countries.

Major Apple Maps improvements on iOS 10

iOS 10’s much-improved Maps application provides extension points for developers to enhance its functionality with third-party Siri queries using a customized user interface.

Other new features in iOS 10 Maps include integration with ride-hailing services, proactive intelligence suggesting common routes and the locations of upcoming calendar events, new search filters, the ability to search for points of interest along your current route, remembering where you parked your car, turn-by-turn directions into your car’s instrument panel with CarPlay, and more.

Source: Parkopedia