Ever since I updated my phone to iOS 12 I’m getting weird notifications from Apple Maps. It will randomly tell me how long it will take to get home when I’m driving around for work. Apple maps isn’t even in the list of running apps. Just to test this, I’ve closed out of all running apps and the notification still is appearing at seemingly random times. Is this Siri shortcuts trying to guess where I’m going? If so, she’s super bad at it and I don’t need this kind of “help.”
Yes.
If you are NOT at home, and the phone can’t determine a more likely location for you to want to go, then it will likely default to suggesting home. If it can figure out some other likely destination, it would suggest that.
For example, if you go from home to the gym, and from the gym to work, it will likely give you a notification for directions and drive time to work when you’re at the gym. But, if you are running some evening errands and have several stops to make (groceries, pharmacy, pet store, home) this may not be a well-established pattern. When you drive to the grocery store, it’s likely going to assume that since you’re out, you’ll be going home next. At least, that’s the bet Siri is making. Siri doesn’t know that you are actually going to the drug store next because this isn’t a series of stops you likely make regularly and with regularity.
Of course, if you had a series of calendar events with locations added, then Siri would be much smarter about its suggestions because then it actually would know your intentions!
I find this very irritating. I don’t want maps pulling my location unless I ask for it. Is there a way to turn it off, or train Siri so she is smarter? For the most part, I enjoy iOS 12, but this map behavior has got to go. I have my notifications paired down to only the essentials, so when I see a notification I’m inclined to think it is important.
This is not new behaviour, I think it’s been around since iOS 10, but it is getting a bit more assertive.
As with all applications you can manage notifications from
Settings>Notificaitons>Maps
OR
Settings>Maps>Notifications
I’ve never been bothered by these easy-to-ignore-and-sometimes-useful notifications so I’ve never disabled Map’s notificaitons, so I don’t know what impact disabling them will have on turn-by-turn directions.
Keep in mind this doesn’t change whether Maps is keeping tabs on your location. Of course, as always, this is all on-device, not being fed to Apple, and doesn’t impact your battery life.
For whatever reason, I never received these notifications before iOS 12. Turning off notifications for maps isn’t a workable plan, as sometimes I need these notifications and want them. I just want to ask for them first!
It sounds like it’s Apple trying to give us what they think we need/want. I haven’t seen any data to support that it doesn’t affect battery life. Constant use of your GPS has always had a battery hit, to say nothing of the cost to my data plan. Here’s hoping iOS 13 will give us more granular controls in the settings…
Another option is in Settings>Maps>Siri and Search, try different combinations of disabling the two options there. I’m not sure which, if any, of those will affect those suggestions on your lock screen but it’s worth a try.
I’m interested in what you mean here. Doesn’t “asking” obviate the need for a notification? If you are asking, are you not then just opening up the Maps app and searching for your desired destination? In that case notifications aren’t required. But I may just not understand your workflow!
Essentially what I am saying is, I don’t want directions unless I have specifically (manually & on purpose) “asked” for them. Either by asking Siri or opening a maps program or clicking a link (usually in Fantastical or Yelp). When I have the maps program completely closed on my phone, IMO, I should not be receiving notifications about how long it’s going to take to get home.
Many apps have settings that say something like “be helpful” and you can toggle it on or off. Even Carrot weather will let be very granular about your notifications and let you determine how snarky they are. Apple could easily have built this into settings to say, “suggest route times” or something like that with the option to turn on or off. My objective in starting this thread was to learn of a setting I’ve missed. From what I can tell, such a setting doesn’t exist.
I’m very frugal with my data plan. I don’t appreciate this drain when I am on LTE and I absolutely have no need for directions home from the grocery store.
I’m with you there!
I think playing around with the Settings>Maps>Siri and Search might get you want you want. I suspect one toggle or the other should stop it from proactively suffusions directions on your lock screen.
To (hopefully) put your mind at ease regarding data, I’d also suggest you take a look at Settings>Cellular to see just how much (or how little) data location services is truly using. The system is pinging your location on a regular basis for many different reasons well outside of Maps and navigation, so tweaking the settings we’re discussing here is unlikely to have any impact on the already rather minimal data location services uses because that location information is likely to be used anyway for the vast array of other things that depend on it. Obviously there are other experiential benefits to stopping these notifications, but I wouldn’t count on it helping reduce your data usage.