Apple Maps began adding Street View-style imagery with the launch of iOS 13 last year. But at the start, the Look Around feature only worked for the streets of San Francisco.
The good news is that the tech giant is gradually adding new Look Around content to Apple Maps for mobile, with the most recent additions including imagery for the cities of Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. Other cities added in recent months include New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, and Oahu in Hawaii.
Similar to Street View, Apple Maps’ Look Around feature lets you explore a location through panoramic imagery shot at ground level, which, with a bit of imagination, gives you the feeling that you’re actually there.
You’re sure to be impressed by the picture quality, but the really cool part of Look Around is the way it moves you through a location. When you tap on the picture to move forward, the animation is silky smooth, with no deterioration in the image quality. In contrast, Google’s Street View imagery blurs as you go. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already done so.
How to use Look Around
To use Look Around, open up Apple Maps, go to one of the cities named above, and tap on the binoculars icon that appears at the top right of the display. This launches a small window showing the panoramic imagery, while part of the map remains in view so that you can see exactly where you are.
You can then tap on the picture to move through the Look Around imagery, or press and drag to explore the immediate surroundings from a fixed spot. You can also drag the binoculars icon around different streets on the map if you want to jump to another part of the city.
To fill the display with the Look Around imagery, simply tap on the full-screen icon in the top left of the picture.
Apple Maps has come a long way since its disastrous launch eight years ago. We recently put it alongside Google Maps to see how the two services currently match up.