Apple held its September event today, but it released the sixth public beta of iOS 18 on August 29, more than two months after the company announced the iPhone software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The beta brings a number of new features to developers and testers’ iPhones, such as RCS messaging, a way to customize your home screen, and an upgraded calculator app. Your Maps app has also been upgraded, and one of the new features you’ll see there is the ability to “Search Here.”
During the event, you can follow CNET’s iPhone 16 event live blog for details on every feature and device Apple announces.
Before iOS 18, if you looked for a restaurant that served pizza on Maps, the app would show you nearby restaurants. But if you lived in a densely populated area, like New York City, or if you wanted to see if there was a pizza place in a specific neighborhood, Maps might not be useful. In the iOS 18 beta, there is now a “Search Here” option in Maps, giving you more control over the search area.
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Since iOS 18 is still in beta, I recommend downloading the beta on a device other than your primary device. Betas can have bugs and cause reduced battery life, and it’s best to keep those issues on your secondary device. I downloaded and tested the beta on my old iPhone XR to keep those issues away from my primary phone, the iPhone 14 Pro.
Keep in mind that the beta isn’t the final version of iOS 18. Your iPhone may get more features when the software is released in the fall.
If you’re testing the iOS 18 beta, here’s how to search for a specific area in Maps.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the new features in the iOS 18 beta
How to use Search Here in Maps
1. Open a map.
2. Enter a term, such as “pizza,” in the search box and click search.
The map will show you pizza restaurants near you. If you zoom in on an area, or move the search area in a certain way, Search here A button will appear at the bottom of the screen. Click this button and the map will search the area on the screen without you having to adjust or reposition the map.
If you’re searching for a new pizza place and zoom in on an area, Maps will now show you results from the new area without shrinking or moving your search area.
Don’t forget, iOS 18 is still in beta, so this feature may have bugs or not work properly. There will likely be more betas before the operating system is released to the public this fall, so Apple has plenty of time to iron out any issues. As of now, there’s no word on when Apple will release iOS 18 to the public.
For more on iOS 18, here are my hands-on experiences with the iOS 18 beta. How to Customize Your iPhone’s Home Screen And our iOS 18 cheat sheet. You can also check out what we might see at Apple’s September iPhone event.
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