Finally Dutch cycling routes in Apple Maps, twelve years after Google Maps | Tech

When planning a route via Apple’s Maps app, you can now not only choose a car, public transport or walking route, but also a cycling route. Apple speaks of “a solution in the cycling country of the Netherlands”.

With the option, users receive customized routes that lead as much as possible along cycle paths, cycle lanes and cycle-friendly roads. Apple indicates whether a route is busy. It also shows elevation data on the route. Other information, such as bicycle repair shops and public toilets, can also be shared.

While cycling, the app provides voice instructions, so that the cyclist does not have to look at the screen of the iPhone or Apple Watch all the time. The app can also indicate when it is better to get off at a busy intersection.

Apple has significantly updated its Maps app in recent years. The company introduced cycling routes in a handful of cities for the first time in 2020. There were no Dutch cities among them. “Fietsland Nederland” had to wait another four years for the update.

Google Maps already had cycling routes in 2012. “We know how popular cycling is in the Netherlands, so we have added as many cycle paths and roads accessible to cyclists as possible,” the company reported at the time.