Someone sends you a location and it arrives as a google.com/maps link. Tapping it opens Google Maps or a browser tab, not Apple Maps. The app it came from barely matters — iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, a booking email, a Notion page, a spreadsheet column — because the fix is the same everywhere.
The method that works in every app
Three steps, and the only one people get wrong is the first:
- Copy the link — do not tap it. Long-press on iPhone or right-click on Mac, then choose Copy Link. Tapping hands the link to Google Maps or Safari, which is the thing you are trying to avoid.
- Paste it into Quick Convert. It resolves shortened
goo.glandmaps.app.goo.gllinks, pulls out the place or the coordinates, and finds the match in Apple Maps. - Open the result. You get a
maps.apple.comlink that opens straight in Apple Maps with directions, and that you can share onward to anyone on an Apple device.
The one-step version on iPhone
With the GoToAppleMaps iOS app installed you can skip the copying entirely. Long-press the Google Maps link, tap Share, then tap GoToAppleMaps. The location opens in Apple Maps without a round trip through Safari.
App by app
iMessage and SMS
When an Android user, or anyone using Google Maps, shares a location by message it arrives as a google.com URL. iMessage renders rich previews for maps.apple.com links but cannot preview or reroute a Google Maps one. Convert it, then tap Share in Apple Maps and send the Apple Maps link back into the thread — everyone else on the thread then gets a link that works natively.
WhatsApp sends locations two ways. A native location pin already opens in Apple Maps on iPhone; only a pasted Google Maps URL needs converting. Long-press the link and choose Copy Link rather than tapping it, then convert as above.
Telegram
Same split as WhatsApp: native pins sent through the paperclip menu show a map preview and open in your default maps app, while pasted Google Maps URLs do not. If a particular contact sends links constantly, it is worth asking them to use Telegram's built-in location sharing — it is less work for them and it removes the conversion step for you.
Slack
A Google Maps link pasted in Slack renders a Google-powered map thumbnail, and clicking it opens google.com in your browser. Slack gives you no way to change that preview behaviour, so convert the link instead: right-click on Mac or long-press in the iOS app, Copy Link, then paste into Quick Convert. If your team shares office locations or meeting spots regularly, convert them once into a single Guide and pin that in the channel.
Booking confirmations from hotels, airlines and event platforms almost always embed a Google Maps link for the venue, and reservation mail from OpenTable, Resy and similar services does the same. They are ordinary google.com URLs, so copy and convert them like any other — and if a single trip has produced a dozen of them, use the bulk route below rather than doing them one at a time.
Converting a whole list at once
For anything more than a couple of links, the bulk converter turns the whole set into one shareable Apple Maps Guide. It handles up to 1,500 places per file, free.
From Google Sheets
Go to File › Download › Comma-separated values (.csv) and upload the result. The links do not need to be in a column of their own — the converter finds URLs mixed in with other data.
From Notion
For a database with a URL column, open the three-dot menu, choose Export, and pick CSV. For links scattered across ordinary pages it is quicker to copy them into a plain text file, one per line.
From a pile of links
Anything that leaves you with one link per line works — an itinerary assembled from booking emails, a list pasted out of a chat, notes from a planning doc. Save it as a text file and upload it.
Use GoToAppleMaps to convert your Google Maps links to Apple Maps in seconds — free, private, no signup.
Frequently asked questions
Not automatically. iOS does not let an app intercept links for a domain it does not own, so no tool can silently reroute google.com URLs. The closest thing is the GoToAppleMaps share sheet extension: long-press the link, tap Share, tap GoToAppleMaps, and it opens in Apple Maps in one step instead of three.
Those already work. A native location share — WhatsApp's + button > Location, or Telegram's paperclip > Location — opens in Apple Maps on iPhone by default. Only a pasted google.com/maps URL needs converting, so if a location arrives as a map preview rather than a link, just tap it.
Yes. The Google Maps links inside a booking confirmation are ordinary google.com URLs no matter which mail app displays them, so copy and convert them the same way.
Up to 1,500 places per file on the free bulk converter. Quick Convert handles one link at a time and is the faster route for a single location.
The tool shows which places matched and which did not. The usual causes are deleted places, private or restricted locations, and links that point at a map area rather than a specific place.
Yes. Convert the list, then paste the resulting maps.apple.com URLs back into your Notion database or sheet. From then on they open straight in Apple Maps for anyone on an Apple device.