Apple Maps is seemingly preparing for a significant expansion of its "Look Around" feature to compete more aggressively with Google's Street View.
Apple's "Look Around" feature offers high-resolution, interactive street-level imagery in the Maps app. To date, its scope has been relatively limited, mainly concentrated in major metropolitan areas and a few select regions worldwide.
A recent discovery by X user Ryan Fae, shared with MacRumors, reveals that Apple Maps' vector tile format, used in the beta version of the web-based platform, leaks information about future Look Around coverage areas. This information, found within the Maps app's underlying code, outlines a more extensive network of planned coverage that's far beyond what is currently available.
The leaked data shows that in the United States, Look Around coverage will no longer be confined to major cities. Instead, it will expand to include major highways, smaller cities, and rural areas. The findings also suggest that new countries are set to gain Look Around coverage as well, including Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, China, Belarus, Turkey, Bulgaria, Mexico, and Slovakia. The expansion into some of these places aligns with sightings of Apple mapping vehicles in 2023. For many of these regions, this would represent the first time high-quality street-level imagery has been made available, as Google's Street View either lacks coverage or is of low quality in these areas.
