Use the Look Around feature in Apple Maps for a 360-degree view

Learn how to take a 360-degree tour of many streets, cities, and other sites through Apple Maps.

Image: Apple

Google Maps has long offered a handy feature called Street View, which allows you to view and navigate a 360-degree view of a specific location. Those of you who use Apple Maps on your iPhone can now take advantage of a similar feature known as Look Around. Via Look Around you can navigate through the streets of certain cities through a 360-degree environment. You can pan left and right, move forward or backward, zoom in and out, and display both the Look Around view and your normal map view on the same screen. Let’s take a look around.

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Apple introduced Look Around in its Maps app with the release of iOS 13 in 2019. So you have to be sure that you have updated your iPhone to iOS 13 or higher. Then open Apple Maps on your phone. Type the name of a city or a specific street address. If Look around is available for that location, a thumbnail image with the Look around title appears on the screen. Tap that thumbnail (Figure A).

Figure A

You can now navigate to that location. Swipe your finger left, right, up, down, or diagonally to pan around the scene (Figure B).

Figure B

Use two fingers to zoom in or out on the image (Figure C).

Figure C

Tap a specific point on the screen to view and you can travel along the street or another location. If you see a side or intersection, tap it to go in that direction (Figure D).

Figure D

As you virtually travel through a city or other location, the app shows the names of landmarks and prominent places. In many cases you can tap the name of a place and the app displays details about it, including the address, phone number and the button to get directions. Tap the X to close the detail screen (Figure E).

Figure E

With Look Around you can jump to another place easier and faster. Tap the double arrow icon at the top left of the screen. The Look Around window shrinks to the top of the screen while your normal map view appears at the bottom. Drag your finger across the map view or tap a specific place and the look around view changes to that location (Figure F).

Figure F

Finally, when you are done looking around and want to return to the normal map view, tap the Done button in the top right.

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