If you have a car and don’t use it much, more than once you’ll forget where you parked it. You may have thought for a second that it was stolen, only to find it soon after. Apple Maps has a feature that save the location of your car when you park it, using the car’s bluetooth connection or CarPlay. A most useful function that shortens those moments of micro-panic.
It’s very good, except when one day you decide turn off iphone bluetooth to avoid distractions with calls while driving. And there the problems begin.
The day I thought my car was stolen
That day, I parked, got out of the car, didn’t put the crash bar on, and drove home. Green zone, everything is fine. My head erased the car’s location from memory because why bother? Everything is recorded by my iPhone.
But not this time, because I had decided to deactivate the bluetooth of the iPhone by a decision he would later regret. When a few days later I went to have a look at the car, just to remove the ad and see that it was fine, I couldn’t find it. And that’s where the nerves started.
I walked around the area where I thought I parked it. Nothing. I even went so far as to cross the street where my car was, which my burden has become invisibleimmersed in my misery. Apple Maps, of course, saved an old location from when I turned on the connection and that didn’t help me.
I started cursing Tim Cook for my mistake. Weren’t they so smart at Apple? They should have found a way to save the location for measure phone movement in the car and calculate the difference when you get out and walk. But no, Cupertino wasn’t going to help me now (at least until iOS 16 decided to include something similar).
I gave in to the worst possibility. I called Madrid City Hall to find out if my car had been taken over by a tow truck. A little respite from your negative response. I called the municipal police, in case he ended up vandalized and set on fire in a vacant lot. Neither, but they recommended I press charges.
Before going to the police station and on the recommendation of a family member, I took one last turn Around the area. And after a few minutes, I found him: he was there. In the same place where half an hour before he had passed without seeing him.
Park your car with Apple Maps enabled
What is the moral of this story it’s clear Remember where you park and stop from time to time if you don’t move the car much. And for added peace of mind, sync your car with iPhone so its last location is saved. You will save yourself a surprise.
It’s easy to do, assuming your car matters with bluetooth system or CarPlay. With the iPhone synced to the car, follow these steps:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > Maps.
- Almost at the very end, you will see Show Parked Car option.
- Check that it is active and close the settings.
From now on, your iPhone will automatically save the location of your parked car. It will be enough to open Maps and you will see your car in the suggestions, with a distance and the associated street. If you click on it, it will create a walking route to get there.
It is one of the simplest functions of the iPhone, which has already existed for a few versions on iOS. If you want to add extra peace of mind, it’s worth putting an AirTag on your car. This way you ensure that you will always find it.
