Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Apple has been working around the clock on Apple Maps' expansion to more regions, especially as the Detailed City Experience includes new maps and incredible details overall.
On the other hand, the DCE's rollout has so far happened in stages, with Apple not necessarily in a hurry to reach the broad availability stage.
More often than not, DCE tests were spotted publicly before the actual rollout, as Apple improved the new maps' availability gradually in every new region.
This is why some Apple users living in New Delhi were surprised to see vegetation details showing up in Apple Maps earlier this month.
In theory, these rich details could be a sign that Apple is getting ready to launch the Detailed City Experience in this region, but upon further inspection, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
First of all, this unexpected map refresh includes vegetation details and 3D landmarks, though the rest of the buildings still use 2D imagery. The new maps are available for everyone in New Delhi, so it's not just public testing. Users can see them when exploring the region on their iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
It's not hard to figure out why so many people believe New Delhi is the next region to get the Detailed City Experience. However, it just looks like Apple wanted to slightly refresh the maps in anticipation of the DCE launch, which is most likely supposed to take place at a later time.
This is not the DCE, as the maps continue to be powered by MapMyIndia. DCE comes with Apple's maps, which is why they include rich details of everything. The iPhone maker has possibly combined its maps with MapMyIndia data to include vegetation details, but no information has been offered as to when the company plans to begin the DCE rollout in New Delhi.
In the meantime, Apple seems more committed than ever to improving Apple Maps. The company has also announced that the application will get offline maps with the release of iOS 17, allowing users to navigate without an Internet connection. This feature has been available in Google Maps for many years already, so Apple bringing it to Apple Maps helps close the feature gap between the two navigation solutions, eventually providing its users with one fewer reason to jump ship.
Offline maps are already available in developer builds, with a public testing build also expected to launch in a few weeks. The production version will start rolling out to users in September when Apple finalizes the iOS 17 development. The new operating system will only be available on the iPhone XS and newer, so if you own an older phone model, you won't be able to use Apple Maps without an Internet connection.
More often than not, DCE tests were spotted publicly before the actual rollout, as Apple improved the new maps' availability gradually in every new region.
This is why some Apple users living in New Delhi were surprised to see vegetation details showing up in Apple Maps earlier this month.
In theory, these rich details could be a sign that Apple is getting ready to launch the Detailed City Experience in this region, but upon further inspection, this doesn’t seem to be the case.
First of all, this unexpected map refresh includes vegetation details and 3D landmarks, though the rest of the buildings still use 2D imagery. The new maps are available for everyone in New Delhi, so it's not just public testing. Users can see them when exploring the region on their iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
It's not hard to figure out why so many people believe New Delhi is the next region to get the Detailed City Experience. However, it just looks like Apple wanted to slightly refresh the maps in anticipation of the DCE launch, which is most likely supposed to take place at a later time.
This is not the DCE, as the maps continue to be powered by MapMyIndia. DCE comes with Apple's maps, which is why they include rich details of everything. The iPhone maker has possibly combined its maps with MapMyIndia data to include vegetation details, but no information has been offered as to when the company plans to begin the DCE rollout in New Delhi.
In the meantime, Apple seems more committed than ever to improving Apple Maps. The company has also announced that the application will get offline maps with the release of iOS 17, allowing users to navigate without an Internet connection. This feature has been available in Google Maps for many years already, so Apple bringing it to Apple Maps helps close the feature gap between the two navigation solutions, eventually providing its users with one fewer reason to jump ship.
Offline maps are already available in developer builds, with a public testing build also expected to launch in a few weeks. The production version will start rolling out to users in September when Apple finalizes the iOS 17 development. The new operating system will only be available on the iPhone XS and newer, so if you own an older phone model, you won't be able to use Apple Maps without an Internet connection.
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