How to open Apple Maps links on Android
A two-minute guide for opening maps.apple.com locations in Google Maps, Waze, or any maps app of your choosing — using Bridge, a free open-source Android app.
The problem
If you own an Android phone and someone with an iPhone shares an Apple Maps location with you, Android has no native way to open it in your preferred maps app. The link opens in your browser, lands on a useless mobile Apple Maps webpage, and offers no obvious path to navigation. You end up copy-pasting addresses by hand, or searching for the place again in Google Maps.
The fix: install Bridge
Bridge is a free, open-source Android app (4.8 MB) that registers itself with Android as a handler for maps.apple.com. After a one-time setup, every Apple Maps link you tap routes silently through Bridge and opens directly in Google Maps, Waze, HERE WeGo, OsmAnd, Organic Maps, Magic Earth, or any other maps app on your device that handles geo: URIs.
No accounts. No tracking. No background services. Bridge is open source under the MIT License.
Download Bridge APKStep-by-step
On your Android phone, open the latest Bridge release and tap the Bridge-v1.0.0.apk file to download it. The APK is signed with a stable release key, so future updates from the same source will upgrade cleanly.
Open the downloaded APK. Android will ask whether to allow installation from your browser or file manager — confirm it. The install takes a couple of seconds.
Launch Bridge from your app drawer. The welcome screen has an Enable auto-bridging button. Tap it. Android jumps to the Open by default settings page; tap Supported web addresses, then switch on maps.apple.com.
That's the one-time setup. From now on, every Apple Maps link you tap will route silently through Bridge.
Open a chat with an iPhone friend, tap any maps.apple.com link they sent you, and watch it open in Google Maps, Waze, or your default maps app — no browser detour, no extra taps.
Why does Android require the manual step?
Android requires per-domain user consent for any app that handles links to a third-party domain. Bridge doesn't own apple.com, so it can't auto-verify the domain the way an Apple-built app would. This is a platform-wide security boundary — it prevents a malicious app from silently hijacking links to paypal.com, youtube.com, etc. Every link-handling app of this type works the same way.
Supported Apple Maps link formats
Bridge understands every common Apple Maps URL shape, including the legacy and modern formats:
- Coordinates:
?ll=37.7749,-122.4194or modern?coordinate=37.7749,-122.4194 - Named places:
?coordinate=...&name=Golden+Gate+Bridge - Address search:
?address=1+Infinite+Loop - Free-text query:
?q=Tokyo+Station - Directions destination:
?daddr=... - Directions origin:
?saddr=... - Place path:
/place/<name> - Short / redirect links resolved over the network
What if a link arrives as plain text?
Some messaging apps render links inside their own in-app browser and never hand them to Android's intent system. For those cases, Bridge has a manual paste-and-convert screen: copy the link, open Bridge, paste it, tap Convert, then tap Open in maps.
Privacy
Bridge does not collect, store, or transmit analytics. It has no SDKs, no telemetry, no account system, and does not request location permission. The only network call it ever makes is to resolve an Apple short / redirect URL when one is shared with you.
Download and source code
Download the latest APK · View source on GitHub · Read the full FAQ