Apple has fired the latest shot in the mapping wars. Its mapping underdog, Apple Maps, has announced that some of its most colorful new features – including “Look Around” and “Detailed City Experience” – are now more widely available in 20 additional cities. These were initially soft-launched in four places.
Breaking down these features, Look Around is the 3D wayfinding feature that lets users navigate urban areas through directional arrows seen through their upheld smartphone. It’s basically Apple’s answer to Google Live View, and is one of the orbiting parts of its broader (and gradual) AR master plan.
“Detailed City Experience” meanwhile provides more color, to put it simply. This includes added texture for buildings, viewable from several angles, as well as layers of characteristic colors (see below). The idea is to add dimension to landmarks and sporting venues, and to capture more local flavor.
With a now-wider rollout, these features become subject to greater traction, while also signaling that they’re ready for prime time. That list of cities now includes Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Munich, Paris, and Philidelphia.
Feature Inflection
Backing up, the mapping wars continue to heat up. One of the fundamental sub-topics of the broader local commerce picture is mapping. Intertwined in local search and SEO, it’s central to the consumer shopping flow and, correspondingly, the local business marketing mix. Google and Apple both see this.
But though it’s so foundational, it also continues to evolve at the pace of newer technologies. Joining the above features from Apple Maps are competitive features from Google such as Live View AR navigation, new levels of mapping detail, and other planning utilities such as the “area busyness” feature.
Google has long led the way in mapping due to Google Maps’ adjacency to Google’s core search primacy. But Apple, stated above as the “underdog,” has made ample strides to catch up over the last decade. This follows its stumbles out of the gate with the famous early 2010s “mapgate.”
Much of this jumped forward with the 2001 launch of iOS 15. That inflection included the two main 3D features detailed above, which add more stylized maps to deepen the UX. Apple has also increasingly rolled out utilitarian features for in-car navigation such as color-coded maps and night-time mode.
Deep Pockets
We saw all these moves coming after Apple began to collect first-party mapping data. That includes Street-View-like imagery and 3D spatial maps. The immediate outcome was its Look Around feature, but this data also enables 3D navigation by allowing mobile devices to scan and recognize surroundings.
For Apple, these feature rollouts continue to balance utility and sex appeal. For every AR navigation feature, there are things like better visual delineations for turn lanes in its maps. For every stylized football stadium, there are navigation modes that make the UX more intuitive while driving.
There are also updates that cater to transit riders. These include clearer indications for transit stations, and the ability for users to personalize transit routes by indicating frequent lines they use. This lets Apple Maps proactively alert users to things like delays, or prompts to leave home in time to catch your train.
So expect more rapid feature rollouts from Apple. This is what you can expect given the combination of Apple Maps’ underdog position and its deep pockets. Meanwhile, those attending L24 in Dallas next year can get colorful birds-eye views of attractions like AT&T Stadium and the Book Depository.
