Google is the undisputed champion of mapping solutions today. MapQuest, Nokia, Bing, Waze and all these other map services are good, but only in limited regions; Google Maps covers more area and in greater detail.
Now, after the Apple Maps fiasco in iOS 6, Google is further strengthening the mobile version of Maps, as we’ve come to know that Street View can now be enjoyed on Google Maps’ web app for iOS based devices. Check out the details after the jump.
The news comes from the official Google Lat Long blog in the form of a blog post in which they discuss the state of Google / Apple Maps on iOS, and the new Street View feature.
For the uninitiated, Street View is one of Google Maps’ more interesting features which allows users to panoramically view locations from streets in selected cities and rural areas in regions like North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and even some places in Antarctica!
The way Google gathers data for Street View – through unmanned street vehicles where possible, or manually driven tricycles / snowmobiles – is even more interesting, but we’ll discuss that in detail in some other post.
So yes! If you head on over to maps.google.com from your iOS device’s web browser, you can now see a stick figure in the bottom right that you can tap on to reveal, if available in that location, the Street View imagery. This opens a separate tab in which you can smoothly swipe around to view the location in Street View.
It’s amazing how quickly things are improving in the world of smartphones. Being able to run a full-fledged version of Google Maps in your mobile browser really leaves me impressed!
Of course, if you like the feel of native apps and prefer to use Google Maps that way, you can always download Maps+ which lets you enjoy Google Maps on iOS 6.
Speaking of Google Maps on iOS 6, the official app is reportedly “several months” away from launch. So it’s best you look for alternatives, or better yet stick to iOS 5.1.1 until that happens.
Be sure to let us know what you think of Google Maps’ updated web app by leaving a comment on our Facebook or Google+ page.
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