The Maps app in iOS 7 on iPhone or iPad gives drivers directions by default, but many people who don’t drive or live in large cities where they almost always walk prefer pedestrian directions. We will show users how to modify the Maps app to offer walking directions on iOS maps by default.
What is the diffrence? At many points, users can walk where they cannot drive, and vice versa. For example, someone could walk down a pedestrian walkway that connects two streets in a big city, but cannot use that road. There may also be a road that does not allow pedestrians due to safety concerns. In this case, the app doesn’t offer that road as part of the directions.
Changing Walking Directions by Default
Run the Settings app before opening Maps. Swipe down until the Maps app appears in the Settings list. In the fourth part of the list.
Tap the Maps app. Scroll the screen to the last section with two options. By default, a checkmark appears next to it. Tap on it and from then on the app will default to Walking directions.
Walking and Driving Directions Give Different Results
We did a test to see how this affected the aspects. About 12 blocks from the 42nd Street Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, NY, transportation to Rockefeller Center offers two different sets of directions depending on walking or driving mode.
Note that the driving directions take a person to one of the three possible routes shown below, none of which match the walking directions shown in the second image below.
Walking directions take one straight hit from 42nd Street and another straight from 5th Street as shown below. This is because walking this route works better on foot, while driving one of the possible routes above works best in a car.
Other Maps App Settings
Note that in the Settings of the iPhone Maps app, users can change a few other things. The top part in the map settings allows users to choose the volume of the sound the app uses to report the direction. It ranges from No Sound to Loud. There is also an option for miles or kilometers. Finally, users can set tags to always display in English, even if the person is traveling internationally.