Apple Maps could be plotting a big update to help it compete with Google
Maps' Street View

Date:
Tue, 13 Aug 2024 10:24:33 +0000

Description:
Expect Look Around to be looking around more places and more countries in the not-too-distant future.

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Apple Maps has improved considerably since its rather rocky launch back in 2012, but its immersive street-level Look Around feature still lags behind Street View in Google Maps. According to a new leak, Apple has big plans to
do something about that.

As spotted by reporter Ryan Fae (via MacRumors ), code embedded in the newly launched Apple Maps web app reveals some of the areas Look Around is going to be coming to next and a significant expansion seems to be imminent.

Whereas the street-level photography of Look Around is currently limited to major cities in the US and a few select regions internationally, it's soon going to include major highways, smaller cities, and rural areas in the United States to start with.

In addition, the indications are that Look Around is going to expand to new countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, China, Belarus, Turkey, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Slovakia which in some cases don't even have great Street View coverage. Apple Maps vs Google Maps SCOOP (for @VirtualStreets_): Apple Maps' vector tile format, used in the web beta version, leaks "Look Around" coverage lines, as discovered by skzk. it
reveals a much larger network of future Look Around coverage.here's a review of what's next to come for Look Around pic.twitter.com/kClNfG6Lj2 August 10, 2024

It's worth noting that the new markers that Apple has put in place for Look Around don't seem to be finalized yet, so there might be more changes in the offing. It's also not clear how long it might be before the improvements
start rolling out.

When it comes to the ongoing Apple Maps vs Google Maps battle, Google clearly has the edge when it comes to being able to offer Street View pictures across most roads on the planet (and plenty of trails and mountain pistes too). Google also offers a richer experience when it comes to looking up details of places and businesses.

Nevertheless, Apple has done well in catching up in terms of core mapping features, including step-by-step navigation. We're going to get more improvements with iOS 18 next month, when you'll finally be able to search
for places in any part of the map you like, not just around your current location. Apple also recently launched Apple Maps on the web , although it doesn't currently offer the Look Around feature.

Google Maps recently added some spectacular time travel augmented reality tricks to tie in with the Paris 2024 Olympics, but next up from Google will
be hardware: the Pixel 9 phones and the Pixel Watch 3 are launching later today, and you can follow along live . You might also like How Apple Maps is continuing to improve Google Maps now looks more like Apple Maps Apple Maps adds offline map downloads



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/websites-apps/apple-maps-could-be-plotting -a-big-update-to-help-it-compete-with-google-maps-street-view


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