Apple is working on a new crowdsourced feature for Apple Maps that would tell you how busy a business is or whether it's open or not, based on anonymous location data.

As Seen on Google Maps

Google Maps provides a similar, completely optional feature, called Live Visit Data. It was designed to show the user how busy a place is based on crowdsourced data from customers who have enabled the Location History options in their Google settings.

A similar feature is now coming to Apple's mapping service in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

First spotted on Reddit, the new feature has popped up within the privacy settings for the system services of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5. A new screen now provides information about how the unreleased feature is collecting and using anonymized encrypted data from users.

Here's how Apple frames this new capability in Maps:

While you are in transit (for example, walking or driving), your iPhone will periodically send GPS data, travel speed and barometric pressure information in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple, to be used for augmenting crowd-sourced road traffic and atmospheric correction databases. Additionally, when you open an app near a point of interest (for example, a business or park), your iPhone will send location data in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple, which Apple may aggregate and use to let users know if that point of interest is open and how busy it is.

The iOS operating system currently doesn't support a mapping feature that would tell the user how crowded any specific point of interest might be. Moreover, no user-facing setting for this feature (aside from the new Apple-provided text) is available at the moment.

That's not the only new mapping feature being developed for the iPhone and iPad.

Related: How to Always Open Directions in Google Maps on iOS

With the iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 updates, Apple is also bringing Waze-like reporting for accidents, road hazards, speed traps, and more. This will permit the user to report road hazards via Siri while using CarPlay. You will also be able to manually choose a new "Report" option, available when swiping up from the bottom while navigating to a location.

When Can I Use This Apple Maps Feature?

For what it's worth, data collection for the upcoming crowdsourced points of interest only happens when the feature is turned on in Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services > Routing and Traffic. It's unclear, however, if this will be enabled by default.

Apple is currently evaluating the updates with developers and public testers. As with other features, there are no guarantees that this one will launch when iOS 14.5 becomes available publicly---Apple could postpone the feature until a future iOS 14 point release or cancel it.

iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 are scheduled for an early spring release.