New in Apple Maps Visited Places

Visited Places in Apple Maps is a simple, built-in way to keep a log of meaningful places you visit, like restaurants, parks, shops, and more. It debuted in iOS 26 and automatically records locations you stop at so you can review, share, or save favorites later. Below I’ll walk you through how to turn it on, where to find your history, how to manage it, and privacy tips so you stay in control.

What Visited Places does

• Automatically detects meaningful visits such as cafes, stores, parks, and other spots.
• Syncs via iCloud to your other Apple devices so your iPad or Mac can show the same list.
• Apple reports the data is end-to-end encrypted so only you can read it.
• Available in certain countries, including the United States at launch.

How to turn Visited Places on

You will not see any visits until you enable the feature. Follow these steps to turn it on in Settings.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Apps, then find Maps. You can speed this up by tapping the letter index on the right and jump to M.
3. Tap Maps, then tap Location and make sure Location Access is set to While Using the App or another desired option.
4. Scroll down in the Maps location settings and toggle on Visited Places.

Make sure system services are enabled

Visited Places also relies on system-level settings to detect routes and significant locations. To verify those:

1. Open Settings and go to Privacy and Security.
2. Tap Location Services, then scroll to the bottom and choose System Services.
3. Ensure Significant Locations and Routes are turned on.

Where to find your visited places in Maps

Once enabled and after you have visited some places, open the Maps app to view the records. There are two easy ways to get to Visited Places:

• Tap Places in Maps, then choose Visited Places.
• Or tap your profile icon in Maps, tap Places, then Visited Places.

How the visits are organized

Visited places are grouped by categories such as cafe, shopping, health, and more. That makes it easier to find a restaurant, park, or store in your history.

Manage a single visit

Each visit in the All Visits list has a menu with several actions. Tap the three dots next to a visit to see your options.

• Save the place to your Places list so you can return to it quickly.
• Share the location via Mail, Messages, or AirDrop.
• Add a note about the visit, for example “great brunch spot with friends” or “good dog park for walks”.
• Give the place a rating or correct incorrect details if the app misnamed something.
• Remove a place from the list if you do not want it stored.

How long visits are kept and how to clear them

You control how long Maps retains visited place records. At the bottom of Visited Places you will see Keep Visits. Tap that and choose one of the options:

• Three months
• One year
• Forever

If you want to remove everything, tap Clear History at the bottom of the Visited Places screen to wipe the record completely.

How to turn Visited Places off

1. Open Settings and go to Apps, then tap Maps.
2. Tap Location and scroll down to the Visited Places toggle.
3. Turn Visited Places off to stop collecting new visits.

Important note, other location features or third-party navigation apps may still record visits. For example, older Significant Locations or apps like Google Maps can track location independently. Review those settings if you want to maximize privacy.

Privacy tips and senior-friendly suggestions

If you are unsure about automatic tracking, try it for a week or two, then decide. You can always clear the history or turn the feature off later.

• If you prefer, enable Visited Places only when you are comfortable and disable it afterwards.
• Prune the list regularly to keep a simple, useful map of favorite spots.
• Use notes to remind yourself why a place was memorable, for example “lunch with grandchildren” or “peaceful evening walk”.

Benefits of using Visited Places

• Simple history of where you have been, searchable by city, category, date, or notes.
• Easy sharing of recommendations with friends and family.
• No need for a separate app, since it is built into Maps and syncs across Apple devices.
• Full control over retention and deletion of your history.

Try it and decide

Turn Visited Places on, go about your outings for a short while, and then open Maps to see what it collected. If it proves useful, keep it on. If not, clear the history and turn it off. You are always in control.

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