Apple Discreetly Launches A Niche App for iPhone Owners

The app aims to help improve one of Apple’s most popular apps.

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This week, Apple introduced a new iPhone app to little or no fanfare. But there’s a reason for its quiet release — it isn’t meant for everybody.

The app is called Maps Surveyor, and its sole purpose to improve one of Apple’s most popular apps: Apple Maps.

Maps Surveyor

As first spotted by MacRumors, Maps Surveyor is an app that’s really only designed for people committed to making Maps, Apple’s default navigation app, better and stay up to date.

Here’s how the Apple Store describes it: “Surveyor helps Apple improve Maps by collecting data, such as images of street signs and other roadside details, while on an assigned route.”

To collect this data and send in photos, Maps Surveyor requires users. But even though the app is free and available to anybody with an iPhone, that doesn’t mean everyone can use it. You have to be approved.

When you open Maps Surveyor, the app prompts you to open another app called Premise. Premise is a task marketplace that rewards users with money for sharing information, taking surveys, and completing tasks.

Apple uses Premise to invite specific people it has chosen to help it improve Apple Maps — but that’s reserved for a small group of individuals, which isn’t likely to include you.

Even though you can find Maps Surveyor in the App Store, the app doesn’t appear to be public-facing at the time of writing.

So, if you’re interested in improving Apple Maps and you have something specific in mind, your best course of action would be to use the “Report a New Issue” option within Apple Maps.

Maps Surveyor