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/kClNfG6Lj2August 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.
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