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Apple adds Maps support to 8 Flyover destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Europe

Flyover view of Pomplona, Spain.

Following news that Apple Maps is now used three times as often on iOS as Google Maps, Apple on Wednesday added eight locations in the U.S., Mexico and Europe to its rolling list of Flyover-supported areas.

The latest locales to get Apple's top-down 3D view treatment include major cities and high-traffic destinations like Detroit, Mich., and Pittsburgh, Pa., as well as cultural hotspots like Pamplona, Spain.

The entire list of new Flyover locations from Apple's official iOS 9 Feature Availability webpage:

  • Detroit, MI
  • Mazatlán, Mexico
  • Monument Valley, AZ
  • Münster, Germany
  • Pamplona, Spain
  • Pensacola, FL
  • Pittsburgh, PA
  • Utrecht, Netherlands

Flyover is a tentpole Apple Maps feature that sets the service apart from competitors. To achieve the interactive 3D view, Apple collects and overlays high-resolution imagery on top of computer generated three-dimensional digital models of buildings, landmarks and other topographical features. These same assets power Flyover city tours, which take users on guided excursions of major metropolitan cities and tourist destinations like London, Paris and New York.

It was revealed on Monday that Apple Maps is now being used three times as often on iOS as its closest rival, Google Maps. Apple says the service handles more than five billion Maps-related queries per week.

Apple Maps continues to evolve after a less-than-stellar launch in 2012. Alongside feature enhancements and bug fixes, Apple has made numerous acquisitions and hires toward building out the in-house mapping product. Most recently, transit directions were added in iOS 9.

Looking ahead, Apple might be working to bring street-level imagery to Maps, as the company has deployed fleets of camera- and sensor-laden mapping vans in the U.S., England and France.



15 Comments

mac'em x 15 Years · 117 comments

I love me some FlyOver, but Google's Street View is really a great feature. Would love to see Apple Maps gain something similar.

Soli 9 Years · 9981 comments

mac'em x said:
I love me some FlyOver, but Google's Street View is really a great feature. Would love to see Apple Maps gain something similar.

Apple is working on that with LiDAR cars. Essentially, their FlyOver tech attached to minivans, not planes. I hope it arrives in 2016.

cornchip 11 Years · 1943 comments

Soli said:
mac'em x said:
I love me some FlyOver, but Google's Street View is really a great feature. Would love to see Apple Maps gain something similar.
Apple is working on that with LiDAR cars. Essentially, their FlyOver tech attached to minivans, not planes. I hope it arrives in 2016.

Exactly. It's coming. And it will be incredible. I think they originally wanted to to whole hog with flyover, but like some Apple programs, their idealism got ensnared by the real world, so they had to change tactics. Hopefully it will move faster than flyover. And eventually, maybe when I'm old and decrepit, my town will finally get flyover …

applesauce007 17 Years · 1703 comments

FlyOver is absolutely beautiful.

I am looking forward to seamless street level WalkOver integration where I can look across or up to see a street level view at high resolution.

cashxx 12 Years · 114 comments

Any of them working for anyone?   I tried them all and none of them work.  Others like New York, etc work fine.