In this lesson we will learn how to use the Maps app. Maps is a built-in app that comes with your macOS. I can open it from the dock, or I can go to Launchpad and click on it here, or I can go to a Finder window, then Applications, and double click on Maps. Or I can simply click on Spotlight in the top right corner of my screen, then type maps and hit enter. When the app opens up, it displays a map of your current location or the last location you were previously searching. And to the right side of the toolbar, we have a few icons. The first one is the Show your current location icon. This icon currently has a slash through it, which indicates that I did not give permissions for this app to use location services. If I want to enable it, then I can go to System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then under the privacy section I'll click on Location Services. And from here I can see that Location Services is turned off for the Maps app. I click the grey Toggle to turn it on, and I'm prompted to enter my admin password. However, since I don't want to enable location services in my Maps app, then I'll cancel out of this and I'll just close system settings. The next icon in the toolbar is the Map mode menu. When I click it, I get four different map modes. The explorer mode is what you currently see in front of you here. Then the transit mode displays any transit systems like railway and local trains. And the third mode is satellite, which displays a real picture of the location as seen by communication satellites. And the last mode is a driving mode, which shows traffic conditions like if there is an accident, roadwork, road closure, or general alerts. Now let me go back to the explorer mode once again, and let's review the next icon, which is 3D. When clicked, we don't see much change because we are not close enough to see this feature in action. So to zoom in for a closeup, I will click on the plus sign at the bottom right corner of my map. And the closer I get, the more we can see the 3D effect taking shape. And if I want to zoom back out, I'll just click on the minus sign. Now from here I can click with my mouse anywhere on the map and drag it in any direction so I can explore this area. And if you have a track pad, you can pinch in or pinch out with two fingers to zoom in and zoom out as well. Next to the plus and minus icons is a compass. By default, the facing direction is northbound, but if I click the compass and drag it around, it changes the facing direction. And the last tool in the bottom right corner is the tilt or angle tool. When I drag it up or down it changes the angle view of my map. At the bottom left corner of my map I have two pieces of information, the current weather at this location as well as the air quality. And if I click on the weather info, the Weather app opens up with more weather details. And if I go back to my map and I click on the Air Quality Index number, a website opens up with more details as well. This is the Look Around tool and when I click on it, two things happen. First, I see binoculars in the center of my map looking in the forward direction as indicated by the blueish section. And the second thing that happened is a small window appeared in the top left of the map which shows a real view of the location. This Look Around tool allows me to drag on this view and provides me with a 360 view in any direction. I can also move the binoculars location on the map by dragging on it. Now, let me click on the two opposing arrows in the top left corner of the Look Around tool window so I can expand this picture-in-picture window into a bigger screen so I can show you something very interesting. And now if I click on an area in this view, look what happens. The image moves in that direction. So I get to travel as if I'm moving or driving on the road itself. I click on the three dots, which open up some more options for us. And the first option is Hide Labels and now the street label is gone. Now back to the three dots again, I can share this location with people via different apps. Next menu option is Imagery, and this gives us information on when the image of this location was last updated. I'll click on Done to exit out of here and I'll click on the three dots one more time. And the last option is Report an Issue. When I click on it, it allows me to report a problem with this image or information to Apple. And now I'll click the two facing arrows so I can exit out of the expanded screen mode, and I'll also click on the X icon so I can exit out of the Look Around tool. The next icon in the top right corner of my Maps window is Show directions. When I click on it, a small window appears with four different direction modes. First is the car directions mode, then walking directions, then transit directions, and finally the bike route. And right beneath that is the From and To fields. This is where I can type my locations and get detailed directions between these two locations. And if I click on the word Options, I get route options like avoiding tolls or highways. So I can click in the From field and enter any location. Let's say I'm mapping a trip from Denver, Colorado to Aspen, Colorado. I'll type Denver in the From field, and I'll click on Denver, Colorado. Then I'll type Aspen in the To field, and click on Aspen, Colorado. And as you can see now, I get the best route option between these two locations. Notice also here I can add stops along the way. This is a new feature in macOS Ventura. So let me add Boulder, Colorado, click it, and now it's added to my trip. I can also reorder them by dragging this icon and moving it. Another helpful feature in using Maps is that I can click on any location on the map and a pop-up window opens with lots of information about this location. So I'll pick a random location on my map, and when I click it, I get helpful information about it. And if I click on the three dots at the top right corner, I can do things like add this location to my favorites so I can easily access it in the future. And now that it's been added to my favorites, I can click on the sidebar icon at the top left in the toolbar. And now I see that this location has indeed been added to my favorites. Also from the sidebar, I have a search field at the top. I'll search for Denver, Colorado. Then hit enter. This brings up the same information window as before, but notice there's a Denver guide section now? These are really excellent and very helpful guides to review. And if you want to see even more guides, if available just scroll horizontally. Now, like any app in macOS, Maps can be customized. I'll go to the Maps menu. Then Settings. From here we have three tabs, General, Route Planner, and the third tab is about Ratings & Photos. The General tab has options like using large labels, showing the weather information and air quality index, among other settings you see here. Then if I go to the Route Planner tab, it shows more options like Preferred Transport Type, and some default settings as well. As you can see, you can really customize how Maps behaves by tailoring these settings and options as we please. So in this lesson, you learned about Maps. Thanks for watching and stay tuned for the next lesson where I will show you the Notes app.
