Apple Maps may add walking time after parking to travel estimates

What the testing shows

Apple appears to be laying the groundwork for a change in how Apple Maps calculates travel times. According to Apple Insider, citing the leaker PDFU on X, the company is internally testing a new flag called TimeToPark in Apple Maps for iOS 27.3.

The aim is to include the time it takes to walk from a parking space to a final destination as part of the estimates the app gives drivers. At present, Apple Maps travel times end when the car stops.

How the feature would learn your habits

The report describes a system built on CoreRoutine, a component that uses the iPhone's background location and motion data. It would work out how a person typically walks between their usual parking spot and their destination, and also calculate the return trip to the car.

This information would be stored and grouped by day of the week and hour of the day. Over time, the on-foot estimate could vary with walking habits, for example longer walks later in the day when someone visits other places on the way home from work.

Data collection comes first

The feature is not yet connected to Apple Maps data. According to the report, the current phase is data collection, with the eventual goal of folding the walk from a predicted parking spot into route planning and arrival estimates, including journeys that end on foot or on public transport.

The feature is not available to users or developers. PDFU says it can only be enabled on internal installs, meaning devices used inside Apple's offices. Because the report relies on a single leaker and code findings, Apple has not confirmed any of it, and the feature may change or never ship.

Why it matters for drivers

Arrival times that stop at the kerb can understate a real journey, especially in cities where parking is far from an entrance. If Apple ships this feature, Maps estimates could better reflect the full trip from steering wheel to front door.

It would also bring Apple Maps closer to behaviour some rivals have explored, while relying on on-device patterns rather than generic assumptions. For now, readers should treat this as an early, unconfirmed test in iOS 27.3 rather than an announced feature.