Apple debuts upgraded maps in New York City

By

Apple Maps just got a New York update.
Didn't Apple tell us it loves New York?
Photo: Apple

Apple Maps users in the Big Apple just got a sizable update to their service. As part of Apple’s quest to challenge Google’s mapping services, Apple Maps now offers far more local detail in New York City. That includes extra details about buildings, roads and footpaths, parks, and more.

Thanks to iOS 13, users can also take advantage of the 360-degree, Google Street View-style “Look Around” feature.

As the New York Post‘s article on the changes notes:

“Users looking at Central Park, for example, can now see individual baseball diamonds and more detailed footpaths. Buildings also are more accurately rendered in 3D using flight technology to better depict elevations.”

“We wanted to take [Apple Maps] to the next level,” Eddy Cue, head of the Apple Maps project, said last year. “We have been working on trying to create what we hope is going to be the best map app in the world.”

From New York to Cali: Making Apple Maps great

This data is gathered using Apple’s mapping vehicles and with data from GPS-enabled iPhones. Apple has also previously applied for permission to use drones to improve Apple Maps.

At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple said the updated Apple Maps will roll out across the United States by the end of 2019. The upgraded maps already cover California and Hawaii, along with parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. It will begin to arrive in other countries in 2020.

Should everything go according to play, Apple hopes to banish memories of the early years of Apple Maps. That launch was one of the most disastrous in Apple history. It included everything from depicting horribly warped landscapes to directing folks visiting the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska, to drive across one of the taxiways.

Which mapping app do you use in 2019? How does Apple Maps measure up? Let us know in the comments below.

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.