iOS (Android too) map app to plot all my places of interest

July 25, 2016 2:21 PM

I'm looking for a map app for my iPhone that would let me input lots of spots I might want to visit and when I open the app it shows me which are near me. I keep browser bookmarks of places that look interesting nearby but I'd love to just open a map and find out which is nearby when I'm driving around doing other things. I've played with the built-in iOS map app, Google maps, and MapQuest but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. Thanks in advance!
posted by pibeandres to Technology (6 answers total)

Have you tried the star feature in Google Maps? On any address you search for on the web / app interface, there's a "Save" button that adds a gold star at that location. When you're looking at the map on your phone the stars are visible. (Probably not when you're using turn-by-turn navigation though.)
posted by rouftop at 2:24 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]

You might try Pinbox. It will let you organize collections of locations (i.e. "pins") that can be displayed on a map, including those locations that are near you. It has lots of related features, for example, it will let you attach notes to the pins, organize the pins into collections that will appear on separate maps, get directions to a pin via your favorite mapping app, etc.
posted by RichardP at 2:48 PM on July 25, 2016

I use foursquare for this. Here's an example list someone else created of 'great insider spots in Seattle'. I haven't looked at the iOS app in a while but the Android one does this pretty well - not 'look at while driving' well but 'look at while getting to the car' well.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 12:12 AM on July 26, 2016

I use Google Maps for exactly this. You can even create different layers, for, say, points of interest, restaurants, bars, etc. I just planned a vacation to Greece this way! Here's how.
posted by Brittanie at 9:21 AM on July 26, 2016

I too have used the "My Maps" feature of Google Maps to store a bunch of pins, and it basically works. The problem was that when they migrated to the new Google Maps, all my maps got screwed up. Then they weren't visible in the app for a while, then they came out with a separate app but it didn't work offline, etc. etc. etc. It was really crappy when I had put over 100 points of interest with hours, etc. and then I couldn't use it. It was really great when it was working and I could just put the layer of, say, casual restaurants up and see if anywhere I had read about was nearby. But the star thing is much easier to do.
posted by wnissen at 3:28 PM on July 26, 2016

Maps.Me is amazing. It uses OpenStreetMap and each map can be downloaded for offline use (very useful when abroad). Plus you can categorise your bookmarked places, colour code them and export them as KMZ files which will work in most mapping applications.

I use it constantly, both at home and when travelling.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:23 AM on July 27, 2016