{"id":928,"date":"2025-03-13T06:38:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T06:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/?p=928"},"modified":"2025-03-13T06:38:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T06:38:58","slug":"ios-18-4-brings-default-navigation-app-choice-but-only-for-eu-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/archives\/928","title":{"rendered":"iOS 18.4 Brings Default Navigation App Choice\u2014But Only for EU Users"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/search?keyword=Apple&amp;post_type=product\">Apple<\/a>\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>iOS 18.4 update<\/strong>&nbsp;is bringing a long-awaited feature\u2014<strong>the ability to set a default navigation app other than Apple Maps<\/strong>. Users will be able to choose alternatives like&nbsp;<strong>Google Maps or Waze<\/strong>&nbsp;through the Settings app, making it the default choice when getting directions. But there\u2019s a catch:&nbsp;<strong>this option will only be available in the EU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/vJ1QSWN7UMywElb4aSYBcQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MjtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2025-03\/fda7f0b0-ff90-11ef-8dbf-c614c4b08a13\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The change is part of Apple\u2019s response to the&nbsp;<strong>European Union\u2019s Digital Markets Act (DMA)<\/strong>, which forces major tech companies to allow more consumer choice and competition. While European iPhone owners will now have the freedom to pick their go-to navigation app,&nbsp;<strong>users in the U.S. and other regions won\u2019t get the same treatment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, the only new&nbsp;<strong>default app option for all users worldwide<\/strong>&nbsp;in iOS 18.4 is the ability to choose a&nbsp;<strong>default translation app<\/strong>. While this may be a useful addition, it\u2019s hardly the same level of flexibility that EU users are receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time Apple has given&nbsp;<strong>exclusive freedoms to EU users<\/strong>&nbsp;due to regulatory pressure. Compliance with the DMA has already led to Apple allowing&nbsp;<strong>third-party app stores<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>alternative payment systems<\/strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>NFC access for tap-to-pay functions<\/strong>\u2014things iPhone users in other markets still don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>iOS 18.4 is currently in&nbsp;<strong>beta testing<\/strong>&nbsp;and is expected to roll out publicly in&nbsp;<strong>April<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apple\u2019s&nbsp;iOS 18.4 update&nbsp;is bringing a long-awaited feature\u2014the ability to set a default navigation app other than Apple Maps. Users will be able to choose alternatives like&nbsp;Google Maps or Waze&nbsp;through the Settings app, making it the default choice when getting directions. But there\u2019s a catch:&nbsp;this option will only be available in the EU. The change is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteryone.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}