Create a Route in Maps for Your Next Walk, Hike, or Run with iOS 18 Beta

Apple was launched Sixth public beta of iOS 18 On August 29, just days after the tech giant announced it would be holding its own conference iPhone launch event on September 9The beta version brings new features, including: RCS messaging and one Updated Calculator appto developers and beta testers’ iPhones. It also updates your Maps app, which now lets you plan a walking, running, or driving route.

Creating a custom route is great for planning hikes or other outdoor activities, and can keep you on track so you don’t get lost. The feature can also tell you how far away a custom route is and what your elevation is along your route — if you’re in Denver, I imagine it just says “Above.”

Read more: iPhone 16: What We Know About Release Date, Leaks, and More

However, iOS 18 is still in beta and I would recommend that you only download the beta on a device other than your primary device. Since this is not the final version of iOS 18, the update can be buggy and have short battery life, so it’s best to keep these issues on a secondary device. To keep these issues off my iPhone 14 Pro, I downloaded iOS 18 to my old iPhone XR.

Here’s how to create your own custom route in Maps.

Read more: Everything You Need to Know About iOS 18 Beta

Create a custom route in Apple Maps on iPhone

1. Open Maps.
2. You can drop a pin by long pressing where you want to start your route.
3. Faucet More.
4. Faucet Create a Custom Route.

From here, you’ll need to navigate your map and plot your route. You can tap on intersections and landmarks like restaurants and shops, and the app will start mapping your route. You can also tap on intersections and unmarked locations on your map for a more detailed approach to plotting your route.

You don’t even have to tap a location close to your last route point. After tapping Create a Custom RouteTap a place miles away and Maps will create a route for you.

It’s important to note that if you tap on a location that’s miles away from where you started your route, Maps will find a route that doesn’t involve punching through walls like the Kool-Aid man. In this sense, creating a route is like getting driving directions in Maps.

When you’re creating your route, Maps will offer you three different route options: Back, Out & Back, and Closed Loop.

Reverse reverses your route so that where you originally started is now where your route ends. Out & Back maps your route onto itself so that you end up where you started and ended on a single track. Close Loop also ends your route where you started, but for circular routes.

After creating your route, tap Save and you’ll be asked to give your route a name. Then tap Complete.

Maps will also download your custom route to your iPhone, so you won’t have to worry about losing signal, especially if you’re hiking in nature.

Where can you find your custom route?

Once you save your custom route, it will be moved to your Library in Maps. Here’s how to access it.

1. Open Maps.
2. Faucet Places, Guides and Routes Below the search bar in Maps.
3. Faucet Routes.
4. Select the route you want to take.

Once you’ve selected the route, Maps will open it on your map. If you’re near the start of your route, To go and your iPhone will give you directions along your route. But if you’re not near the beginning of the route, Directions and Maps will show you how to reach the starting point of your route.

Remember, iOS 18 is still in beta, so this feature could be buggy. Apple will likely release more beta versions of the software before releasing it to the general public this fall, which should be enough time to iron out any issues. For now, there’s no word on when Apple will roll out the update to the general public.

Click here for more information on iOS 18 My hands-on experience with beta, All the ways to customize your home screen and our iOS 18 cheat sheetYou can also check out: What might we see at Apple’s September iPhone event?.