Is your New Year’s resolution to exercise more? Try running iOS 18
2025 is and if your New Year’s resolution is to exercise more, you’re not alone. According to Statista, 42% of Americans said they want to exercise more in the new year. For some, that means hitting the gym more often. But if a membership isn’t in your budget or there’s no gym nearby, that might mean going for a run, walk or hike in your neighborhood. And with iOS 18 you can map out your route and see how far you’ll get before you even step foot in the door.
Apple released iOS 18 to the general public in September. The update brought many new features to the iPhone, including RCS messages and an updated Calculator app. It’s also updated its Maps app, which now lets you plan a route for walking, running or hiking.
Creating a custom route is great for planning a hike or other outdoor activities and can keep you on track so you don’t get lost. This feature can also tell you how far a custom route is, as well as what your altitude is along your entire route. If you’re in Denver, I guess it just says “Up There.”
Read more: iOS 18 brings these new features to your iPhone
Here’s how to create your own custom route in Maps.
Create a custom route in Apple Maps on iPhone
1. Open up Cards.
2. Press and hold where you want to start your route to place a pin.
3. Touch more.
4. Touch Create a custom route.
From here you have to plot your route by tapping on your map. You can tap intersections and landmarks — like restaurants and shops — and the app will start mapping your route. You can also tap intersections and unmarked locations on your map for a more detailed approach when creating your route.
You don’t have to touch a location near your last route point either. After you tap Create a custom routeyou can tap a location miles away and Maps will create a route for you. It’s important to note that if you tap a location miles away from where you start your route, Maps will find a path that doesn’t involve going through walls like the Kool-Aid Man. In this respect, creating a route is just like getting driving directions in Maps.
As you create your route, Maps will also give you three route options: back, out and back, and closed loop.
Reverse reverses your route so that where you originally started, your route now ends. Out & Back maps your route onto itself so you start and finish where you started in one go. Close Loop also ends your route where you started, but for routes that are circular.
After creating your route, tap Save and you will be asked to specify your route. Then tap Done. Maps will also download your custom route to your iPhone, so you won’t have to worry about losing reception, especially if you’re hiking in the wilderness.
Where to find your personalized route
Once you save your custom route, it will be moved to your Maps library. Here’s how to access it.
1. Open Maps.
2. Touch Places, guides and routes under the search bar in Maps.
3. Touch Routes.
4. Select the route you want to take.
Tap this to find your saved routes.
Once you’ve chosen the route, Maps will display it on your map. If you are near the start of your route, tap go and your iPhone will give you directions along your route. If you are not close to the start of the route, you can tap Directions and Maps will show you how to get to the start of your route.
For more on iOS 18, here’s what you need to know iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.1 and ours iOS 18 cheat sheet. You can also check what your iPhone might come up with iOS 18.3.
Watch this: Tips for creating in Apple’s Image Playground and Genmoji
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