Hands on with iOS 13 'Look Around' in Apple Maps
Apple is improving Apple Maps with the newly announced "Look Around," an interactive neighborhood map rival to Google's Street View.
Look Around is Apple's alternative to Google's Street View, giving users the option to see a neighborhood without having to visit. When fully implemented, Look Around will be accessible through Apple Maps. Currently, Look Around is only available on the iOS 13 beta.
Using Look Around is intuitive, especially if you're already familiar with Street View. You swipe to rotate the camera and tap to move in a specific direction. It takes a few seconds for Look Around to respond to a tap to move, but the animations are smooth and less jarring than those of Street View.
The photograph quality of Look Around is especially impressive, albeit not surprising. Apple has only recently begun photographing for their Maps app, where as Google had begun in 2007, when camera quality was not nearly as good. Still, it made us want to be able to use Look Around more, if only to enjoy the highly detailed photography.
Google has had over a decade to photograph streets, paths, and parks around the world, while Apple is just getting started with its own data set. This means that, at least for now, Look Around is almost more like an Easter egg within the iOS 13 beta, than a wide alternative. Apple states that they plan on having all of the US photographed and mapped by the end of 2019, with plans to do other countries in the year after.
Most of the cities we found were by accident, save for Cupertino which we'd had a pretty good hunch about. So far, we have found that you can use Look Around in Cupertino, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Honolulu, but are sure there are a few others left to find.
Apple has also stated that privacy was paramount in this coming iOS update, particularly in regard to location services, and, in turn Apple Maps.
"We always protect your identity and activity," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "There's no need to flip a switch to ask Apple to start respecting your privacy, because at Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right."
Look Around is Apple's alternative to Google's Street View, giving users the option to see a neighborhood without having to visit. When fully implemented, Look Around will be accessible through Apple Maps. Currently, Look Around is only available on the iOS 13 beta.
Using Look Around is intuitive, especially if you're already familiar with Street View. You swipe to rotate the camera and tap to move in a specific direction. It takes a few seconds for Look Around to respond to a tap to move, but the animations are smooth and less jarring than those of Street View.
The photograph quality of Look Around is especially impressive, albeit not surprising. Apple has only recently begun photographing for their Maps app, where as Google had begun in 2007, when camera quality was not nearly as good. Still, it made us want to be able to use Look Around more, if only to enjoy the highly detailed photography.
Google has had over a decade to photograph streets, paths, and parks around the world, while Apple is just getting started with its own data set. This means that, at least for now, Look Around is almost more like an Easter egg within the iOS 13 beta, than a wide alternative. Apple states that they plan on having all of the US photographed and mapped by the end of 2019, with plans to do other countries in the year after.
Most of the cities we found were by accident, save for Cupertino which we'd had a pretty good hunch about. So far, we have found that you can use Look Around in Cupertino, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Honolulu, but are sure there are a few others left to find.
Apple has also stated that privacy was paramount in this coming iOS update, particularly in regard to location services, and, in turn Apple Maps.
"We always protect your identity and activity," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "There's no need to flip a switch to ask Apple to start respecting your privacy, because at Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right."
Comments
Google backstabbing Apple may have been the best thing that happened to Apple.
If this is the case, most iPhone users will have their city by the time iOS 13 rolls out publicly. Great news.
they have the towers on top and so they stick out because of that. Not the plain white car that says Apple Maps is plain black text, unlike Google cars I've also seen with a map all over the car besides their tower.
Apple is already mapping and getting GPS. The Cameras have always been there. So if Apple has napped your road, they have the pictures also. The pictures would just have to get added to their Look About. Apple has been doing this for a few years now and there is still 6 months until the end of the year.
Point Roberts, Washington (98281), where I own property, is one.
Google has no qualms invading your privacy by driving around your neighborhood and taking pictures of everything, but now Apple seems to be following in their footsteps?
http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf
https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/germany-street-view
Don't expect Apple "look-around" to be any more welcome there.