Good improvements to DuckDuckGo's mapping service

Earlier this year, the search engine adopted the AppleK MapKit JS framework to power map-related searches. In keeping with its focus on privacy, DuckDuckGo emphasizes that it does not send any personal information to Apple or any other third party, nor does it retain location information sent by browsers after a session has ended. Previously, the Maps tab was only displayed for user queries that DuckDuckGo assumed were map-related.

Now the Maps tab is a permanent part of its UI, appearing alongside the Photos, Videos, and News tabs. Re-querying the map, which can be useful for limiting global searches, allows users to refine local searches while remaining in the expanded map view. Before that, each new map-related search required users to return to DuckDuckGo's regular search page.

While users are in the expanded map view, local autocomplete will display search suggestions for the map area being viewed. DuckDuckGo has also extended dark mode support to its maps as well, in a move to provide convenience to users. The privacy-conscious search engine recently surpassed 43 million searches per day (nearly double the volume this time last year).

These newer features are likely to improve user experience, which could help it maintain growth momentum. This is good news for users as well as business owners who are on Apple Maps.