Many of the features found in the iPhone and iPad versions of the Maps app are available to Mac users, including the ability to add your favorite locations.
Using Favorites in Maps
The Favorites feature lets you save a location anywhere in the world and quickly return to it. Identifying favorites in Maps is like using bookmarks in Safari. You can store frequently used locations in your Maps Favorites list to bring up a saved site quickly. However, the Maps Favorites feature offers more versatility than Safari bookmarks. Favorites give you quick access to information, reviews, and photos of the places you save.
How to Access Map Favorites
To access your favorite sites, click the magnifying glass icon in the search bar. (In early versions of Maps, click the Bookmarks icon in the Maps toolbar.) Then, click Favorites or the Favorites icon (a heart) in the drop-down panel that appears. The left panel of the Favorites screen contains categories for Favorites, Recents, All Contacts, and Contacts groups from your Contacts application. Maps provides quick access to all your contacts on the assumption that you may want to map out the location of a contact if the entry contains an address.
The Favorites category contains your saved spots. They may be restaurants, businesses, friends’ homes, landmarks, or places that you’ve stuck a pin in on the Maps application. The Favorites feature starts with an empty list, but you can add your favorite spots in several ways. The Recents category contains a list of recently visited locations in Maps. Each time you enter an address in the search bar, use a favorite, or use a contact’s address to go to a location in Maps, that location is added to the Recents list. Recents also includes any pinned locations, even when the pin doesn’t have a name. The Contacts category contains all your Contacts groups. You can click on any group to find a specific contact. You can also use the search bar within the Favorites sheet to find a specific contact. Contacts that include a useable address are displayed in bold text, while contacts that are missing address information are displayed with grayed text. Click on an address field in a contact to go to that location in Maps.
Adding Favorites in Maps
When you first start using Maps, the Favorites list is empty, ready for you to populate it with places of interest to you. However, you may notice that within the Favorites list, there is no method for adding a new favorite. Favorites are added from the map, using one of several methods.
Add Favorites Using the Search Bar
Use the search bar at the top of the Maps application to enter a favorite location.
Add Favorites by Manually Dropping Pins
If you wander around a map and come across a location you want to return to later, you can drop a pin and then add the location to your Favorites. To perform this type of addition, scroll about the map until you find a location that interests you. Then:
Add Favorites Using the Maps Menu
Another way to add a favorite is to use the Edit menu in Maps. If you want to return to the same area in Maps, do the following:
Editing or Deleting Favorites
You can change a favorite’s name or delete a favorite location in the Favorites screen. However, you can’t change a favorite’s address or location information there. Favorites are a handy way to keep track of places you have visited or want to visit. If you haven’t yet used Favorites with Maps, try adding a few locations. It’s fun to use Maps to see all the places you think are interesting enough to add as Favorites.
