Apple has rolled out a new update for its Maps app, which now shows Covid-19 airport travel guidelines for over 300 airports worldwide, including five Indian airports. The navigation app now shows its users local airport health requirements, including face coverings, health tests, or screenings, and quarantine guidelines. The company has sourced all this data from the Airports Council International (ACI). Also Read - Apple's AirTag works with Android devices too: Here's how
To access the feature, users simply need to search for an airport in the app and then tap the Covid-19 travel guidance and local health requirements option. However, first Apple users will have to update the Maps app from the App Store to access the data. Also Read - Apple AirPods found to be working after dog swallowed the earbuds: Here's what happened?
The five Indian airports for which Covid-19 guidelines will be made available include Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Mumbai), Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi), Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad) and Chandigarh International Airport (Chandigarh). Also Read - Apple Spring Loaded event: New iPad Pro, iMac, AirTag and more at a glance
ACI has also made all of these guidelines available through an API, which app developers can directly integrate inside of their apps. Users can also take a look at the data and the list of all participating airports via ACI’s Check & Fly tool.
“Having this information displayed in Apple Maps will help to make this crucial data much more broadly accessible to passengers,” said ACI World Director General Luis Felipe de Oliveira, in a statement. “This will help passengers to plan their journeys and be reassured that their health and safety remains a priority for the industry as we all work towards a sustained return to operations and global connectivity.”
To recall, Apple recently started showing data for Covid-19 vaccination centres located in the US, within its app. The feature provides users with the location of the vaccination centres along with all of the necessary data that a user might want to know. The feature will soon start rolling out to other countries also.