Apple announced the launch of its redesigned Apple Maps in the United States. This marks the completion of the massive redesigning process that the company subjected its controversial and error-prone Apple Maps too, which began back in June 2018.
The redesign was already complete last month itself and was also being made available in several pockets across the US though it’s only today that Apple chose to formally announce the launch of the new Apple Maps. Also, while Apple Maps is being rolled out across the United States at the moment, Apple announced they are targeting a launch across Europe sometime later this year.
Apart from a fresh new layout and approach, Apple Maps also packs in several new features. That includes the new ‘Look Around’ feature that allows for a street-level high-resolution view of the surrounding in 3D similar to what the users would have seen with their own eyes.
This comes in handy when exploring a new locality or for locating a particular address and so on.
Unfortunately, Look Around is not available across the US at the moment, it is restricted to only New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, and Oahu at the moment. Apple though said they are working to bring more regions under the purview of Look Around.
Then there also is the ‘One-Tap Navigation’ feature to places that users visit most often. Users simply have to tap on the location name such as work, home, gym and so on in the ‘Favourites’ section with the map doing the rest. This should be helpful to those who might have relocated to a new place and need mapping guidance for the first few days. Otherwise, requiring a map to travel to a place they visit almost every day is quite weird.
Other features that new Apple Maps provide include real-time transit info as well as the estimated time of arrival, with users having the option to share the latter with friends and family. There also is the Indoor Maps feature which will help users make their way through malls or sites of tourist attractions.
Apple said their commitment to privacy continues unabated with the new Apple Maps where user searches or usage are never saved. Users won’t have to log in as well to avail of Apple Maps services while the user’s info too isn’t linked to any user id or device. Apple also said that will convert the precise location where a particular search originated from to a less accurate one in 24 hours, a process described as ‘fuzzing’.
