Fix: Google Maps Links Open in Safari Instead of the App (iPhone)

  • ⏱ About 2 minutes
  • Free, no sign-up
  • iPhone, Mac or any browser
  • Updated October 2026

Short answer

iPhone hands a google.com/maps link to the Google Maps app only when the app is installed and iOS still treats it as the handler. If you ever chose Open in Safari after a long-press, iOS keeps doing that. Long-press the link and choose “Open in Google Maps” to switch back. If you would rather use Apple Maps, convert the link in the box below.

Why it happens

  • The app is not installed. Without the Google Maps app, every Google Maps link opens in Safari. This is normal.
  • You chose Safari once. Long-pressing a link and picking “Open in Safari” tells iOS to stop sending that site to the app. It remembers.
  • The link is inside another app's browser. Instagram, Gmail, Slack and others open links in their own in-app browser first, which does not hand off to Google Maps.
  • The link is a short link. maps.app.goo.gl links go through a web redirect; some apps open that redirect page in a browser instead of passing it on.

The fix

  1. Check the app is installed. If not, install Google Maps or convert the link to Apple Maps below.
  2. Long-press the link in Messages, Mail, Notes or a Google search result in Safari and choose Open in Google Maps. From then on, taps open the app again. (Long-pressing a link on a page that is already on google.com may not offer it.)
  3. From an in-app browser, tap the share or “…” menu and choose Open in Safari (or Open in Google Maps if offered). Safari then hands the link to the app.
  4. Already in Safari? Google's page shows an Open in the Google Maps app banner at the top; tap it.

Prefer Apple Maps?

There is no way to tell iOS to open Google Maps links in Apple Maps, and the default-navigation setting (Settings › Apps › Default Apps › Navigation) exists only in the EU on iOS 18.4 and later and in Japan on iOS 26.2 and later — it also does not rewrite Google links. What works is converting the link: paste it below, get the same place as an Apple Maps link, and open that.

Convert a link now

Paste any Google Maps link — place, pin, short link or directions.

Whole list? Use the file converter.

FAQ

Why do Google Maps links open in Safari on my iPhone?

Either the Google Maps app is not installed, or iOS was told to open that site in Safari after you chose Open in Safari from a long-press, or the link was tapped inside another app's built-in browser, which does not hand links to other apps.

How do I make Google Maps links open in the app again?

Long-press the link and choose Open in Google Maps. iOS remembers that choice the same way it remembered Safari.

Can I make Google Maps links open in Apple Maps?

Not by a setting. Apple Maps does not read Google links. Convert the link with GoToAppleMaps and open the Apple Maps link it gives you.

Does the default navigation app setting fix this?

No. That setting exists only in the EU (iOS 18.4 and later) and Japan (iOS 26.2 and later), and it affects which app handles navigation requests, not which app opens a Google Maps web link.

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