While many people are quick to dismiss Apple Maps in favour of Google Maps, iOS 13 may change your mind.
When Apple showed off some of its upcoming changes to Maps at WWDC 2019 in San Jose, California, the Cupertino-based company revealed a stunning new ‘Look Around’ feature.
Many shrugged off Look Around as a ripoff of Google Maps’ Street View feature, but arguably Look Around is much more. The two features accomplish the same goal, but Look Around offers more realistic, pseudo-3D photos and smoother animations.
A prime example comes from Reüel van der Steege, a WordPress developer from the Netherlands. Steege recently shared on Twitter (@rvdsteege) a clip comparing Look Around and Street View side-by-side.
Made a quick side-by-side comparison video driving the same road in Hawaii with 'Look Around' in Apple Maps on #iOS13 vs Google Street View. It really is "smoothly move down the street"! Impressive 🤩 #WWDC19 #iOS13Beta #AppleMaps #GoogleMaps #Apple #maps pic.twitter.com/nIA3kklhJe
— Reüel (@rvdsteege) June 13, 2019
The clip clearly shows some of the significant differences between the two features, particularly in the area of smoothness. Street View is slow, moving forward in chunks at a time, while Look Around feels more like a fluid movement.
While the difference is striking, I’d still rather have the janky movements of Street View than nothing at all. Apple’s Look Around feature relies on its rebuilt basemap and high-res 3D photography and is set to roll out across the U.S. by the end of 2019, followed by more countries next year.
Where Canada will fall on that timeline is yet to be determined, although it does look like some Apple Maps cars have been spotted in Canada making the rounds.
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