Parkopedia and Apple are teaming up to change the way drivers discover parking and use mapping applications with a partnership that brings the former’s vehicle parking information and reservations to the preinstalled Maps app on iPhones.

While a variety of mobile platforms have launched parking discovery and reservation capabilities, Parkopedia’s partnership with Apple will likely bring the experienced into the mainstream. Apple Maps comes preinstalled on all iPhones and has a significant number of users, who will soon be able to search for nearby spots with Parkopedia’s database directly within the app and reserve spots for easy parking.

“Map apps are becoming richer and looking to provide additional value to their users,” said Christina Onesirosan Martinez, head of marketing and operations at Parkopedia. “Instead of being able to provide just the underlying maps and navigation capabilities, latest map apps are also looking to help their users with tasks such as hailing a cab or finding parking.”

Mapping mobile experiences
Apple Maps users will soon be able to find parking directly within the app and make reservations using Parkopedia’s mobile platform. The partnership will integrate Parkopedia’s parking information database natively within Apple Maps.

Users will be able to browse parking nearby and for locations they are going to for a convenient travel experience. Travelers can click on to Parkopedia’s mobilized platform to view availability, prices, user reviews, exclusive offers and make reservations.

For example, users that are interested in finding parking near Yankee Stadium can open Apple Maps and natively view all the available parking within that area. The experience is the same if users are following directions as well, to help navigate unknown areas much easier.

The integration will help Parkopedia garner more attention as well as users and business while Apple will have an edge over major competitors such as Google Maps by offering something more. While mapping apps are growing in terms of capabilities, many still lack any sort of parking integration, which will put Apple Maps ahead.

The new update has not been launched yet, but will likely been seen in the near future.

Parking and mobile
Parking assistance app Parking Panda similarly rolled out to Canada, giving Toronto vehicle owners easier control over parking with reservations, payments, price comparison and location search options, alluding to a prominent future for mobile and parking assistance (see more).

The city of St. Paul, MN, was recently another metropolis to streamline the parking experience via mobile, allowing residents and visitors to remotely pay for metered parking using a new smartphone app (see more).

“Drivers using Apple Maps are now able to search for parking and receive rich information about nearby parking lots including location, payment type, number of spaces, etc.,” Ms. Martinez said. “In the future, drivers will also be able to find cheapest lots as well.

“When launched, Apple Maps users will be able to book a parking space by clicking on booking link or Parkopedia logo,” she said.