Look Around (Apple)
Technical feature of Apple Maps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Look Around is a technology featured in Apple Maps that provides interactive panoramas from positions along a number of streets in various countries. Look Around allows the user to view 360° street-level imagery, with smooth transitions as the scene is navigated. Look Around was introduced with iOS 13 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2019. It was publicly released as part of iOS 13 on September 19, 2019.[1]
Background
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In early 2015, vehicles equipped with twelve cameras and lidar sensors were seen in a variety of locations in the United States. These vehicles were owned by Apple and were also seen in places like the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Sweden. In June 2015, Apple stated on its website that the vehicles were collecting data to improve Apple Maps. Also, Apple claimed to secure privacy by making faces and license plates unrecognizable. In 2018 Apple confirmed in an article that it was rebuilding Apple Maps, with the first results rolled out in California.[2]
In 2017, Apple started surveying Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Slovenia. A year later, in 2018, Apple started collecting imagery in Japan.
In 2019, Apple started releasing the new map in United States. In January, California received the new map.[3] In April, Arizona and New Mexico got the new map.[4] In May 2019, Apple announced plans to begin collecting data for Apple Maps in Canada.[5] In November, the new map covered 51% of the United States. [6] In December, the entire United States is covered by the new map.[7]
Overall in 2019, Apple started collecting imagery in Andorra, Canada, San Marino, Germany and Australia.
During WWDC on June 22, 2020, Apple announced its new maps would be coming to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Canada later in the year.[8] Apple began testing the new map in the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 23, 2020 and published it on October 01, 2020.[9][10] Apple launched testing of its new map in Canada on October 20, 2020, before deploying it on December 10, 2020.[11][12]
Overall in 2020, Apple started collecting imagery in Monaco, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore.
During WWDC 2021 on June 7, 2021, Apple announced that Spain and Portugal would receive the new maps that day, with both Australia and Italy getting them later in the year.[13] Apple started testing its new map data in Spain and Portugal on April 22, 2021, with the maps launching on June 2021.[14][15] On September 10, 2021, Apple published new map data in Andorra, Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City.[16] Apple began testing its new maps in Australia on October 19, 2021, publishing the new data on December 9, 2021.[17]
Overall in 2021, Apple started collecting imagery in Hungary, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
On March 7, 2022, Apple started collecting imagery in Greece. On March 4, 2022, Apple began testing its new map in Germany and Singapore. On April 21, 2022, Munich and most of Singapore received Look Around alongside the new maps.[18] On May 14, 2022, Apple started collecting imagery in Denmark. On May 29, 2022, Apple began testing its new map in France, Monaco, and New Zealand, with the maps launching on July 7, 2022.[19][20] On June 3, 2022, Apple announced a first round of imagery collection in Mexico, which began in August 2022. During Apple's WWDC event in June 2022, it was announced that eleven new countries would receive the new maps by the end of the year, including Belgium, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland.[21] The Look Around feature was enabled in all of Germany on July 25, 2022.[22]
Apple started testing its new map data in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia on August 5, 2022.[23] In September 2022, Apple announced the start of image collection in Thailand, which began in October 2022. On November 3, 2022, Apple started testing its new map data in Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.[24] The new data was released on December 15, 2022, alongside Israel, Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia.[25]
Overall in 2022, Apple began collecting imagery in Greece, Denmark, Mexico, and Thailand.
On January 23, 2023, Apple began testing its new map data in Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. On March 2, 2023, the new maps were launched in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.[26] On March 10, 2023, Apple began testing its new map data in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia.[27] The new maps were released on April 6, 2023.[28] On April 17, 2023, Apple began surveying the United Arab Emirates. On May 2, 2023, Apple began testing its new map in Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan.[29] The new map data was published for these countries in June 2023.[citation needed] On July 31, 2023, Apple began testing its new maps in Denmark and Greece, with the map data officially launching on October 12, 2023.[30][31]
Overall in 2023, Apple began collecting imagery in Brazil, India, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.
In January 2024, an Apple Maps car was spotted in USJ 20, Malaysia, with the text Koleksi Imejan Apple Maps (English: Apple Maps Image Collection) emblazoned on the car.[32] In December of the same year, Look Around was released on the web version of Apple Maps.[33]
Overall in 2024, Apple began collecting imagery in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Vietnam.
On January 25, 2025, Apple began testing its new map data in Thailand, with the official launch occurring on May 8, 2025. Apple released Look Around in most of Mexico on August 21, 2025.
Overall in 2025, Apple began collecting imagery in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
As of May 2025, Look Around covers around 82 areas, including parts of the United Kingdom (which includes the overseas territory of Gibraltar), Ireland, Canada, Japan, Andorra, Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands), Portugal, Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily), San Marino, Australia, Germany, Singapore, France, New Zealand, the United States, Israel, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Taiwan, Austria, Greece, Denmark, Hong Kong, Monaco and Mexico.
Refine Location
In iOS 14, Apple released a new feature called Refine Location in Apple Maps: if the app cannot otherwise get precise location information, it prompts the user to scan the surrounding area. This uses Look Around data to improve the accuracy of the current location.[34] As of May 2021, the following areas have received the Refine Location feature:
AR Walking Directions
In iOS 15, Apple released a feature called AR Walking Directions in Apple Maps, where the user scans the surrounding area and will show directions. Much like Refine Location, this feature makes use of the surrounding area and improves the accuracy of directions. As of July 2023, the following areas have received AR Walking Directions:
Timeline of introductions
| # | Release date | Major locations added |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 19, 2019[37] |  Las Vegas, Oahu, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz |
| 2 | September 30, 2019[38] | Los Angeles, New York City |
| 3 | November 18, 2019[citation needed] | Houston |
| 4 | February 19, 2020[39] | Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. |
| 5 | April 20, 2020[40] | Chicago |
| 6 | June 29, 2020[41] | Seattle |
| 7 | August 4, 2020[42] |  Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo |
| 8 | October 1, 2020[43] |  Edinburgh, London Dublin |
| 9 | October 7, 2020[44] | Phoenix |
| 10 | December 4, 2020[citation needed] | Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Takamatsu |
| 11 | December 10, 2020[45] |  Southern Canada |
| 12 | December 16, 2020[46] | Denver, Detroit, Miami |
| 13 | February 3, 2021[47] | San Diego, Portland |
| 14 | May 12, 2021[48] | Atlanta |
| 15 | May 17, 2021[48] | Kanazawa, Sendai |
| 16 | June 7, 2021[13] |  Spain Continental Portugal Gibraltar |
| 17 | September 10, 2021[16] |  Italy San Marino |
| 18 | October 29, 2021[citation needed] |  Andorra |
| 19 | December 9, 2021[17] |  Australia |
| 20 | April 21, 2022[18] |  Munich Singapore |
| 21 | May 18, 2022[citation needed] | Frankfurt, Stuttgart |
| 22 | May 27, 2022[49] | Niigata, Sapporo, Shizuoka |
| 23 | June 16, 2022[citation needed] | Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen |
| 24 | June 30, 2022[citation needed] | Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig |
| 25 | July 7, 2022[20] |  Metropolitan France New Zealand |
| 26 | July 25, 2022[22] | Rest of Germany |
| 27 | December 15, 2022[25] |  Belgium Israel Liechtenstein Luxembourg Netherlands Switzerland |
| 28 | March 2, 2023[26] |  Mainland Finland Norway Sweden |
| 29 | April 7, 2023[28] |  Croatia Czech Republic Hungary Poland Slovenia |
| 30 | May 20, 2023[citation needed] | Himeji, Kitakyushu, Maebashi, Okayama |
| 31 | July 27, 2023[citation needed] | Dallas, Minneapolis, Tampa Bay |
| 32 | September 26, 2023[citation needed] |  Austria Taiwan |
| 33 | October 12, 2023[31] |  Denmark Greece |
| 34 | October 20, 2023[citation needed] |  Hong Kong |
| 35 | November 2, 2023[citation needed] | Sacramento |
| 36 | December 10, 2023[citation needed] | Jacksonville, Orlando |
| 37 | February 8, 2024[citation needed] | Kumamoto, Utsunomiya |
| 38 | February 15, 2024[citation needed] | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 39 | March 28, 2024[citation needed] | Austin, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and several areas in California |
| 40 | May 17, 2024[citation needed] |  Monaco |
| 41 | August 15, 2024[citation needed] |  Åland |
| 42 | January 30, 2025[50] | New Orleans |
| 43 | April 12, 2025[citation needed] | More areas in California |
| 44 | May 1, 2025[citation needed] | Rest of Ireland |
| 45 | August 21, 2025[51] |  Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Tijuana, Morelia, Ciudad Juárez, Mérida, San Luis Potosí, Hermosillo, Mexicali, Culiacán, Veracruz, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Villahermosa, Xalapa, La Paz, Chilpancingo, Chetumal, Puerto Vallarta, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Guasave, Cozumel, Cuauhtémoc, Tampico, Oaxaca |
| 46 | November 13, 2025[52] | Kansas City |
| 47 | March 8, 2026 | More areas in Nevada, Oregon and Washington State |
Coverage
Look Around is available in over 80 cities and countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia as of 2026:[53]
Future coverage
According to the company, Apple's vehicles and pedestrians have visited, or are scheduled to visit, the following countries and territories:[54][a]
See also
Notes
- While the new map covers the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Thailand, and Vatican City, these countries lack the Look Around feature.