Apple iPhone users can improve Apple Maps by installing this app and following directions
How would you like to help Apple improve Apple Maps? On Friday, Apple released a new app in the App Store called Apple Maps Surveyor. While you're on an assigned route, the app collects data about your surroundings which includes images of street signs and other roadside markings. The app is free for iPhone users but it is limited to those in the U.S. And apparently not every iPhone user in the States can install the app as it doesn't show up in the App Store on my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
If you can find the app and download it, you will have to install a partner app and right now there is only one option, Premise. This is an app that pays users who answer surveys, submit photos of certain locations requested by the app, or answer questions that result in the sharing of personal information. Code discovered insider the Surveyor app shows that users will be asked to mount their iPhone in landscape while using the app. The app will then be used to record street signs on the iPhone and collect data.
It doesn't show up in the App Store on most iPhone models, but the Apple Maps Surveyor app does appear on the web. | Image credit-PhoneArena
It seems that the Premise app will offer rewards to iPhone users in exchange for their help improving Apple Maps. The user will be given a specific location to drive to possibly tied to areas where Apple needs updated information for Apple Maps. Apple Maps Surveyor requires iOS 17 or higher.. With Apple offering this app and giving out rewards in exchange for photos and other data collected by the Apple Maps Surveyor app, it seems obvious that Apple is positioning the app as an alternate way for it to collect data to improve Apple Maps. Currently, Apple relies on the info it gathers from the vans it drives around in the U.S. and overseas.
The Apple Maps Surveyor app will collect info that Apple collects from its specially equipped Apple Maps vans. | Image credit-Apple
However, using the Apple Maps Surveyor app instead has its advantages. It probably will cost Apple less money to give rewards to iPhone users assigned by the app to take a picture of a street sign or a certain landmark on the side of the road. Additionally, each request could generate multiple responses giving Apple more pictures of a street sign, for example, to choose from. It's a win-win situation for Apple, iPhone users, and Apple Maps users.
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