For instance, you might name your doctor’s office “Doctor’s office”-which is much easier to remember and say in a voice command than an official map-based moniker like “East LA Doctor’s Hospital: Puglia Joseph MD.” Or you might name your friend’s impossible-to-find building “Biff’s apartment” for simple ongoing reference. If you find yourself looking up or navigating to the same places repeatedly, make your life a little easier by giving your favorite spots more memorable names. See precisely how busy businesses are or are likely to be in the future with Maps’ “Popular times” tool. You can look ahead to find average data on crowd congestion for any other day and time as well. There, you’ll find a graph of the typical crowds at your current day and time and often also a live report of exactly how busy it is at that very moment. Search for the spot in the Maps app on your phone-or find and tap it within your current map view-then tap the business’s name in the white bar at the bottom of the screen and scroll down until you see the section labeled “Popular times.” That’ll show you current prices and wait times for both Lyft and Uber, right then and there, and allow you to hop directly into the ride-ordering process within either app.īefore you head out to the grocery, your favorite deli, or even the DMV, let Maps show you how long of a wait you’ll face upon arriving. After searching for a specific place and then tapping the Directions button, look for the icon with a person waving her hand in the air as if she were hailing a cab (located directly beneath the address bar, between the walking-person icon and the biking-guy icon). The next time you’re looking up a location on your phone and then decide to hail an Uber or a Lyft to get there, save yourself some steps and order your ride from right within the Maps app. You can also browse to see what’s near your current location by opening Maps on your phone, and then scrolling and swiping through the Explore tab at the bottom of the screen. “Things to do near the Florida Theatre” Maps can act as your guide to practically anything, anywhere. “Pharmacies near Figueroa and 1st Street”