MapQuest Blog

Let's face it, one of the key elements of any mapping product is the ability to search a particular location for an address or business. When we launched MapQuest 4 Mobile for the iPhone a few months back, we utilized the standard iPhone "2-box" on "1-line" interface that looks like the current mobile Safari search area.

After the product began to "settle-in", we heard from a great deal of users that the "1-line" interface was confusing and a bit "clunky". What did we do? We fixed it and then improved the overall performance of the app as well. Now in version 1.1, when you click within the search field, you are presented with two horizontal search boxes; one for "search by business" and one for "search by address" (see illustration below).



The list below represents the complete set of updates found within the new 1.1 version:

• Improved search experience: "Double-decker" entry for business search & address
• Improved Place Carousel speed and performance
• Faster "tabbing" between modes: Maps, Directions, My Places, and Settings
• Improved routing performance
• My Places locations and locally stored locations can now be viewed on the same screen

If you haven't already downloaded the free application for your iPhone, click here to get the latest version now {opens iTunes link}.

As most you may know this past June, we launched the Mapping & Directions app - MapQuest 4 Mobile on iPhone (link opens iTunes). What you may not know is the true story of one MapQuest mobile developer's plight to bring a little casual happiness to the folks that use the app.

Yes that's correct, not only does the app provide functional usage around Maps & Directions---it also quietly adds a little charm, or dare I say snicker to those that uncover the existence of the....Hand Dog.

So, what is a "Hand Dog" anyway you ask? As our developer put it, "...call it an ode to my childhood creating shadow puppets, staying up late in our backyard tent throwing hand rabbits, birds, and swans against the dim, backlit wall. I threw a crude "dog" against the wall and everyone laughed."

Since then, the "Hand Dog" has made its way throughout our developer's life-bringing joy and smiles to family gatherings, barbecues, and now an iPhone app.
As he puts it.."The day is always a little better with Hand Dog".

So, where can I find the "Hand Dog" in the app? One of the cool features of the app is the ability to use a photograph or choose from our "stock" My Position Icons to represent your current location on the map. The "Hand Dog" just happens to be one of our stock icons to choose from (click on "Settings", then select "My Position Icon")

For those interested in downloading the free app and discovering the "Hand Dog" for yourself, click here.

For those looking for more information on how to make your own shadow puppet, click here.

Now Featuring Address Book Integration!

Since our MapQuest 4 Mobile on iPhone app launched last month, a great deal of you requested a way to easily plot the address of a contact in your address book onto a MapQuest 4 Mobile map. Well, ask and you shall receive! The latest version available now in the iPhone App Store includes this new feature as well as a host of changes and enhancements. Here is the complete list:

1. New Address Book integration! Easily plot any address from your iPhone's address book onto a MapQuest 4 Mobile map and get directions to that address.
2. 13 new branded place widgets that include: Chili's®, Citibank®, Comfort Inn®, Embassy Suites®, FedEx®, Home Depot®, HSBC®, Interstate Batteries®, Kohl's®, Papa John's®, Quality Inn®, Sears®, and Wendy's®.
3. Added Search, Map, and Directions Icons to My Places for easier visual recognition.
4. Various user interface bug and stability fixes.

So, if you haven't downloaded the free application, what have you been waiting for?
Click here to get it now.

It has been a week since we launched MapQuest 4 Mobile in the iPhone App Store, and the application has already racked-up over 180 thousand downloads and a top 20 birth in the "Free" app category (the app currently sits at #12). Users and the press alike are ecstatic about the application-providing a host of accolades and reviews that bear mentioning once again.

"MapQuest's new free iPhone app - pretty much a head-on direct competitor to the Google Maps client that ships with the iPhone OS. Definitely worth checking out." – John Gruber, Daring Fireball

"MapQuest 4 Mobile is the latest mapping app for the iPhone and iPod touch from MapQuest from AOL. This free iPhone app works as great substitute for the built in Google Maps iPhone app." -- AppSafari.com

"I like that MapQuest has a few tricks up its sleeve that are not in the built-in Maps app. I'll definitely be keeping it, using it, and finding out whether I prefer it to Maps." – Patrick Jordan, Just Another iPhone Blog



So, if you haven't downloaded the free application, what have you been waiting for? Your iPhone is begging for an alternative to the standard Maps app from Google!

Click here to get it now.

Webster's defines evolution as: "...any process of formation or growth", and "...a product of such development; something evolved". While "evolution" can mean many things to many people, we at MapQuest® think our newly released MapQuest 4 Mobile on iPhone™ epitomizes the Webster's definition.

After many months of development, we are proud to announce the availability of MapQuest 4 Mobile on the iPhone. Since last September, the MapQuest 4 Mobile mapping and directions product has been available to BlackBerry® Smartphone users as a free application. With the iPhone, our developers saw an opportunity to start from scratch and completely overhaul the MapQuest 4 Mobile experience to take advantage of the iPhone's unique Multi-touch interface and large screen. The end result is truly the next evolution of maps & directions on the iPhone™, offering a set of unique features that simplify your mobile mapping and directions experience.



Here are a few of the innovative features:

1. Save Maps and Routes on MapQuest.com and retrieve them on your iPhone using your My Places account. (Get your MapQuest My Places account here)




2. More useful driving directions featuring an oversized display and landscape mode orientation.



3. New MapQuest® Place Carousel allows you to easily display locations for hotels, movie theatres, gas stations, and more with a single tap.




4. Negotiate difficult turns or sets of turns with the help of orientation arrows when viewing directions in map mode.



5. Create your own "My Position" icon that represents YOU on the map using the iPhone's built-in camera or choose from a variety of existing My Position icons.



6. Easily add multiple points to your route.



So, if you have an iPhone and are looking for a free, full-featured maps and directions application, now you have a choice! Join the evolution and download MapQuest 4 Mobile on iPhone today.



Want more information? Visit: http://wireless.mapquest.com
If you would like to download the feature screenshots, click here. To see the feature-by-feature YouTube video, click here.

Use The Enhanced MapQuest4Mobile With My Places To View Saved Maps & Directions On Your BlackBerry instead Of Printing.

The MapQuest4Mobile developer and Quality Assurance teams are going to sleep well tonight! In the last month we've been working crazy hours to get the full "My Places" experience on your BlackBerry. So while we head home to regenerate our burned out brain cells, you've got some pretty sweet stuff to try out in today's new version of MapQuest4Mobile. If you haven't downloaded the app yet, or haven't signed-in to My Places since we released it for mobile last month, take it from the dev team: Now is the time.

Our goal in this release was to leave our toughest competitor in the dust. The competitor I'm talking about is the "Print" button; you know, the one you use to print out paper directions from MapQuest.com, only later to realize you left them in the printer tray in your hurry to get out the door. Well, once you've tried the new My Places feature in conjunction with the new MapQuest4Mobile, my teammates and I hope you'll agree: "Save" is the new "Print." It's faster, it's easier, and it saves trees.

Here's how the enhanced My Places feature within MapQuest4Mobile works. If you haven't already, create a free My Places account on MapQuest.com. Using the "Map" or "Directions" form, create a destination or route as you normally would, but instead of clicking "Print", click the "Save" button instead. While your car is warming up or you're sitting at a light, launch MapQuest4Mobile on your BlackBerry-signing into your My Places account that you created on MapQuest.com. Next, scroll the top carousel over to the "My Places" icon and click the "Refresh" button. In seconds you'll have a direct link to the directions or map you just saved back at your home on MapQuest.com.



If you saved directions, they show up with the classic "little blue car" icon. If you saved a map--it has the familiar MapQuest "globe" icon, etc. When those icons are clicked, each displays almost anything you saved from the MapQuest.com site.



Here's my favorite way to use the enhanced My Places feature on MapQuest4Mobile. I made a map of Denver on MapQuest.com, selected the "Traffic" option, then saved it to my "My Places" account with the name "Denver Traffic." Now I can access that same map and have real-time traffic information on my BlackBerry even when I'm at the breakfast table. One click on the "Denver Traffic" link while I'm downing my second bowl of Lucky Charms and I can see just how late I'm going to be to the office!



To see more information on the new MapQuest4Mobile with MyPlaces feature, click here.

If you would like to access the free download link from your BlackBerry device, type m.mq4m.com in your mobile browser.

Just in time for Spring Break planning, we have introduced a fantastic new feature to our popular MapQuest 4 Mobile application. Now you can view saved maps and routes stored within your MapQuest.com My Places account (formerly My MapQuest) on your BlackBerry Smartphone...right within our MapQuest 4 Mobile product.

With Spring Break on the horizon, lets say you are taking the family to your favorite Colorado ski resort to ski and snowboard for the week. As it is your first time to this specific resort, you don't exactly have a good idea where to eat, find your hotel and make the Gondola run by 9am.

In planning for this trip, you'd probably plan out your directions for the various places you're going on MapQuest.com and print them out to review on the way (assuming you don't lose them along the way or leave them on the dresser at home!).

While this scenario is the tried and true way MapQuest has helped people over the years, it relies heavily on the fact that you carry the printed directions with you at all points throughout the trip.

Let's rewind a bit and assume you have a BlackBerry Smartphone and have created a My Places account on MapQuest.com. Those maps and routes you created above? Well, instead of printing them, you saved them to your My Places account with all the details you need for eating, skiing, and sleeping during your vacation. Now, let's also assume that you have downloaded the new MapQuest 4 Mobile application with the new My Places feature to your trusty BlackBerry. As you are the consummate planner, you fire-up your phone, launch the MapQuest 4 Mobile application and login to your My Places account to find the maps you saved earlier---right where they should be!

With your trusty maps and locations always in your hand, you scurry-off to your snow filled destination ready for such questions as, "Where is the restaurant from our hotel?", "How do we get from our hotel to the gondola?" And should you find something new along the way, you can easily save that location to a map within the MapQuest 4 Mobile application--- ready for next year's return visit!

To download the MapQuest 4 Mobile application, visit m.mq4m on your BlackBerry today! Or for more information go to www.mapquest.com/mq4m. Don't have a My Places account on MapQuest.com? Click here to sign-up and start saving your maps and routes for your next big (or small) trip.

As I'm out and about, I try and notice what devices people are using. One of the devices I've noticed, in literally every airport I've visited, is the BlackBerry 8700. This ubiquitous work horse of business deserves a hard-working, free mapping application. MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta fits that bill! Point your mobile browser to m.mq4m.com and download MapQuest 4 Mobile for FREE.

MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta is available for these BlackBerry's.

MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta is FREE, easy to use, and offers valuable features such as maps, directions, local business search and more. See more information.

By far, the most requested handset of 2008 was the BlackBerry Pearl. Well, here it is! We are pleased to furnish our loyal users with MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta on the Pearl (BlackBerry 8100), at no cost.

If you have a BlackBerry Pearl on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, Rogers, Bell, or Telus, point your mobile browser to m.mq4m.com and download MapQuest 4 Mobile to enjoy our mobile map and directions application.

MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta is already available for these BlackBerrys

MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta is FREE, easy to use, and offers valuable features such as maps, directions, local business search and more. See more information.

That's all 4 now. Keep checking back 4 updates! We'll have the new Pearl flip soon!

The launches keep coming this week at MapQuest! We're adding to our announcements with the launch of MapQuest 4 Mobile Beta.

We're excited to show off our new free mobile product that offers maps, directions, local business search and more for BlackBerry devices. One quick look at the interface and you'll see how intuitive it is -- you'll go from a new user to a pro in a single use. Try out the scrolling carousel across the top and you'll see how easy it is to use.


Those that have tried this new mobile app out immediately found it engaging and very practical. Not only does it get you where you need to go with street and hybrid (aerial imagery with street names) map views, we have handy features such as live traffic conditions and MapQuest's database of over 16 million points of interest to search from.



One of the really cool features is the GPS Find Me feature. Your GPS chip helps locate you and you can quickly get directions from your current location and track your progress as you get to your destination.



MapQuest 4 Mobile is currently available for download for the BlackBerry 8830 on Sprint, and the 8310, 8800, and 8820 models for AT&T. Many more devices will be supported in the coming months.

Get more information and download the product at our product page.

That's all 4 now. Keep checking back 4 updates.