Apple Maps gets new photo uploads and ratings in iOS 14 beta

Apple has added new recommendation tools and photo uploading for businesses in Apple Maps with the latest iOS 14 beta.

As reported by 9to5Mac:

As of the latest iOS 14 beta, it appears that Apple is looking to remove dependencies on Foursquare and Yelp as sources of reviews and user photos of restaurants, bars, shops, parks and other points of interest.

As the report notes, the new feature will allow users to rate businesses they visit with a thumbs up or thumbs down, as well as upload photos of the business for others to see:

iOS 14 beta 6 includes new UI that lets users recommend a place with a thumbs up or thumbs down. The rating system can differentiate between categories, so users can rate the quality of purchased products in a shop highly even if they didn't get the best service. At least at this early stage, the rating UI is only visible for a small subset of all POIs on the map.

Users can upload photos directly from a business "card" on Maps, but they'll be reviewed by a human before being used. Siri will even suggest photos you could upload based on your on-device location history and your photo library.

As the report notes, currently Apple relies quite heavily on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Foursquare for photos and reviews of businesses. This new feature will help to shift the reliance away from third parties and clean up the user interface.