Ads Aren't in the Apple Maps App Yet, But They're Coming Soon

Apple released iOS 26.5 yesterday with a new Suggested Places feature in the Apple Maps app, which is a precursor to the ads that Apple plans to start showing later this year. There was some confusion over whether ads are live, but as of now, the ‌Apple Maps‌ app still doesn't have ads. Apple did start laying the groundwork for ads in iOS 26.5 and tested a splash screen, but no ads appeared during the beta testing period or after launch. When Apple announced plans to bring ads to the Maps app in March, it said that ads will be implemented in the United States and Canada "this summer." Astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere starts on June 21 and ends on September 22. Meteorologically, summer begins on June 1 and lasts through August, so depending on Apple's definition of summer, we'll get ads in Maps sometime between June 1 and September 22. Ads will be displayed in ‌Apple Maps‌ search results and in the new Suggested Places section added in iOS 26