Paul Morris·

How To Use iOS 11 One-Handed Maps Zoom Mode

Here’s how you can use the all-new iOS 11 one-handed Apple Maps zoom mode on iPhone instead of having to use the standard pinch-to-zoom functionality with two fingers.

Apple may have just had the foresightedness to implement this type of functionality into its own Maps app now, but this is something that’s been possible in Google Maps for a number of years. Still, it’s great to see that Apple is taking the opportunity to expand what is possible with Apple Maps, but we’d still like to see the company do more in terms of actually making it clear that this new gesture-based functionality exists. If you are a regular Apple Maps user, and definitely want to know more about this new feature, then check out the steps below on how to get up and running with it.

Step 1: This might seem like a given to anyone reading it, but in order to use this new feature you are actually going to need to be using an iPhone with iOS 11 installed. If you haven’t gotten on board with iOS 11, either as a developer or a public tester, then you need to do that first and then come back. If iOS 11 is already installed on your device of choice, then launch the stock Apple Maps app to begin.

Step 2: Scroll to a location on the map that you wish to zoom in to. Alternatively, you can search for a location using the usual search and find mechanisms. Once you have that location on the screen then you are ready to start utilizing the new zoom functionality which brings all of the one-handed goodness.

Step 3: With that location in view, double-tap on the display with a single finger, but making sure to keep the finger still pressed on the display after the second tap. This means that you are now in a position to start manipulating the view.

Step 4: To zoom into the current view, slide the finger up on the display while still keeping it pressed onto the glass. To zoom out, you simply need to do the reverse, and slide the finger down on the display.

It is literally as easy as that to be able to zoom in and out and use the native Maps app efficiently in iOS 11 using as simple as one thumb. This is opposed to having to previously use two fingers using pinch gesture, or tap with one finger, for zoom in but then having no ability to zoom out without having to use two fingers again for pinch-out gesture. This one-handed zoom mode fixes all that! About time!

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