This past week, I was riding and the driver tried to pull up his driving instructions with Apple Maps with Siri and it failed. He opened Google Maps and then used the microphone to tell it to find his address. Then Google Maps worked and it got us around the road blockades. I asked him if he could open Google Maps with Siri and he said he didn’t know how. Well, I read about this today because I don’t use Apple phones and I was curious how it could be done. The short answer is there is no way to set Google Maps as the global default app for map directions but there’s a hack around this if you are interested.

If you say, “Hey Siri, give me directions to Starbucks,” Apple Maps will open and that’s it. But if you talk to Siri and include the hack, you can open Google Maps. Here’s how it works. You talk to Siri, Siri opens Apple Maps then it opens the share menu and shows you a list of all the additional routing apps you have installed, like Google Maps and Waze. Then you tap on Route to open that app you really want and choose car navigation. Here’s the hack that you add at the end of the phrase you usually say, “via transit.” Therefore, now you say to Siri, “Hey Siri, give me directions to Starbucks via transit.” Now Siri opens the share menu in Apple Maps and you tap Google Maps then tap navigate.

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What if you want to have your iPhone or iPad open Google Maps by default when you tap on a written out address?

I have not tested this solution with iOS 11.

If the steps below don’t work starting from Safari, try putting this address in the Notes app before you tap on it to launch Apple Maps.

Google Bldg 40
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043

1. Tap the address to open Apple Maps.
2. Tap the “Car” icon to start the routing.
3. Now the screen should show three tabs, tap on “Apps.”
4. Then with Google Maps installed, tap on “Route” next to its icon. Your iPhone or iPad should default to opening Google Maps whenever you tap on a street address.