AppleInsider Staff
Apple's efforts to build out its in-house Maps service moved forward on Thursday with the addition of four new Flyover locales, public transit data for Los Angeles, a European expansion of Nearby POI suggestions and Traffic data for Hong Kong and Mexico.
The additions were listed on Apple's iOS Feature Availability webpage, which notes new Flyover support in Aomori, Japan; Bruges, Belgium; Lake Powell, Utah; and Limoges, France. Counting the four cities, Flyover is now available in 220 locales around the world.
Flyover is a tentpole Apple Maps feature that applies high-resolution imagery to computer generated three-dimensional models to create interactive 3D views of buildings, landmarks and other topographical features. Apple is also said to be working on a competitor to Google's Street View, which would provide finer street-level detail for easy metropolitan navigation.
Apple also flipped the switch on Traffic data for users in Hong Kong and Mexico, while residents in the Netherlands and the UK can now take advantage of iOS 9's new Nearby feature. Introduced in the latest iteration of Maps, Apple's Nearby provides automated, proximity-based search of commonly queried points of interest. Results of nearby businesses are split into categories like Food, Health, Services and Shopping, among others.
Previously limited to six countries including the U.S., France and parts of China, Nearby is accessible via Maps and is turned on by default in iOS Search.
Apple last updated Maps in December with Flyover destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.
Charles Martin
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23 Comments
Has anyone ever found a real use for Flyover?
maps is a product that needs a lot of work. i'm happy to use it whenever convenient, but recently i was on a road trip in southern california...used apple maps for TbT directions, and it suggested an infinite loop (literally) on and off highway 1 outside morro bay. had to revert to google maps for directions back northward. i really hope they devote more resources to the product, especially if they plan on releasing a carOS sooner or later.
yes, a carOS and not a car. in the most recent podcast, one of the folks at AI outlined all of the reasons why producing a car made no sense, but a framework or OS did. i tend to agree at this point. why make a TV, a highly commoditized product with low margin, when you can make the primary device and interface that users will interact with? same logic seems to apply to cars as well.
I don't understand flyover either. I suspect it was an alternative, tightwad alternative to street view. Very pleasing visually however.
it would be cool if they did flyover properly. Four new cities? Really? After all this time? How about if they want something like flyover to be used they actually spend the money to cover just about every town in a country all at once. Otherwise give it up and spend the cash on a street view competitor.
Do or do not: there is no try.
Flyover: It's either "whoop-de-doo," or "Lah-de-dah".
Whoop or Lah: there is no Meh