Lottery Places

Lottery Places helps you find the nearest lottery retailers, view them on an interactive map, and get driving directions.

Finding lottery retailers

Letting the app find you

For Lottery Places to work best, allow the app to access your location when it asks, the first time you open the map. Either precise or approximate location is enough to find nearby retailers.

If you did not allow it at the time, you can turn it on later in your device's settings, under the privacy or location section, and then for Lottery Places specifically.

Your current location appears as a blue dot on the map, with a cone showing the direction your device is facing once that is available.

No GPS? No problem. Lottery Places works on Wi-Fi-only tablets and other devices without GPS, using network positioning to find your approximate location.

If location is unavailable — not allowed, or turned off — the map opens to a general view instead. You can still search by address and browse retailers; sorting by distance becomes available once a location is known.

Retailers appear automatically

When you open Lottery Places, it finds up to 50 of the nearest lottery retailers.

To load more, simply move the map in any direction. New retailers appear as you go, until up to 200 are shown at once.

Note: once 200 retailers are on the map, press and hold the map where you would like to start a new search to find more.

Searching somewhere else

To look for retailers near a different area, press and hold the map at the spot you want. You will feel a short tap, an orange pin drops at that point with the place shown beneath it, and Lottery Places searches for the nearest retailers there.

Searching by place or address

1. Tap the Search (magnifying-glass) button in the buttons at the top right of the map.
2. Start typing. Suggestions appear as you type, each showing a place or address with its distance from you when your location is known.
3. Tap a suggestion, or press the search or return key to use the top one — or to look up exactly what you typed.

Before you type anything, your previous searches appear under Recent, so you can quickly return to somewhere you looked up before. You can clear these at any time from Settings.

To close search without choosing anything, tap the X button or swipe the panel down.

When you pick a result, the map recenters there, drops an orange pin, and searches for retailers nearby.

Retailer information

Map pins

Each retailer appears as a pin on the map. Tap a pin to select it — the pin grows, the map centers on it, and a details panel slides up from the bottom showing the retailer's name and distance. Tap an empty part of the map to dismiss it.

Full details

Drag the details panel upward to see everything about that retailer, including its complete address. On tablets and larger screens these details appear in a side panel beside the map instead.

When available, the details may also show:

• The types of lottery games sold
• A store description
• Hours of operation
• A phone number, which you can tap to call
• An email address, which you can tap to write to
• A website link

What is available varies by location and by lottery.

Directions

From the details panel, tap Directions for turn-by-turn navigation.

Lottery Places does not show the directions itself. It hands the retailer to your preferred navigation app as the destination — if you have more than one installed, your device will ask which to use.

Sharing a retailer

Tap the Share icon at the top of the details panel to send the retailer's name, address, and a map link to another app. People most often use this to send an address to a car's navigation system, or to text it to someone.

Reporting a problem

If something about a retailer looks wrong, tap Report Error on the details panel and describe the issue.

That opens a short feedback form. Only the message is required; you can add your name and email as well, and an email address is needed if you would like a reply.

Your reports help keep the database accurate. Thank you — they genuinely do get read.

Tip: you can reach the same form at any time from the app's More menu.

The retailer list

While viewing the map, tap Show list at the bottom left to switch to a list.

By default the list is sorted by distance, nearest first. Use the toggle at the top to switch between Distance and Name.

If you have searched a different area, you will see two distance options — one measured from your location (the blue dot) and one from the place you searched (the orange pin) — so you can sort whichever way is more useful.

Tap any retailer in the list to close it, move the map there, and open that retailer's details.

Map controls

Changing how the map looks

Tap the Map options (layers) button in the buttons at the top right. You can choose between a standard road map, satellite imagery, and a hybrid of the two; some devices also offer a terrain view. You can turn a Traffic overlay on or off as well.

Getting back to your location

Tap the my location (crosshair) button at the bottom right of the map to recenter on where you are and refresh the retailers nearby.

Straightening the map

If you rotate the map, a compass button appears. Tap it to turn the map back so that north is up.

Settings

Open Settings from the app's More menu.

• Appearance — choose System (follow your device), Light, or Dark. The change applies immediately.
• Pan to selected retailer — controls whether the map recenters when you tap a retailer. Turn it off to leave the map where it is; the retailer is still highlighted and its details still open.
• Clear search history — removes your saved searches. You will be asked to confirm.
• About — the copyright and the app version number.

The More menu

The More button at the top right of the map also offers:

• Rate Lottery Places — leave a rating in your app store
• Send us feedback — the feedback form
• Included Lotteries — which lotteries are covered
• Help — this page
• Settings
• Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Software Licenses

Lottery Places in your car

Lottery Places works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with no extra setup. Connect your phone to a compatible vehicle or head unit and choose Lottery Places from the app launcher.

On the car screen you will see a map with a numbered list of the nearest retailers, each showing its name, address, and distance. The list updates automatically as you drive.

Tap a retailer for its details, then Directions to start navigation in your car's maps app, or Call to phone the retailer.

The first time you use Lottery Places in the car, tap Grant location on the car screen so it can show retailers near you.