Look Around is Apple’s answer to Google’s Street View, and it’s about a zillion times better — if your area has coverage, that is. Look Around is just getting started, and covers very few places. Street View, on the other hand, is available for pretty much anywhere, including underwater, up mountains and on hiking trails.

Why is Look Around better? Well, it’s faster, for one. And it just looks nicer. The images are super-high-resolution and full-screen. Using it on a 13-inch iPad Pro feels like taking a virtual street tour of a neighborhood.

This week on The CultCast: A Foxconn insider spills big iPhone 11 secrets. Plus: the pros and cons of Apple Card, and Apple’s new maps start rolling out across the country. And finally, a strange twist in the MoviePass story unveils the unbelievable shenanigans the company pulled to stayed in business — and they are far worse than we ever imagined!

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Apple is rolling out its revamped Apple Maps app in the Northeast, covering Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

The refreshed Apple Maps continues to expand across the United States. Last week, it debuted in Texas, Louisiana and the southern half of Mississippi.

Apple is exploring ways to build augmented reality into Apple Maps. Rather than top-down views of roads and intersections, the company is considering overlaying route information onto live views of the road ahead of the car.

Apple Maps has always lagged behind Google Maps. Building in AR could help it jump ahead.

Apple’s a few years behind Google with its Street View-style feature called Look Around, announced at WWDC 2019. It may have been worth waiting for, however — at least, based on a new side-by-side comparison.

Assembled by Reüel van der Steege, the demo showcases the impressively smooth Look Around, next to Google’s jerkier alternative. Both parts of the side-by-side demo depict the same road in Hawaii.

Apple’s sensor-filled mapping cars are headed to Canada, as Apple collects more data to help improve its Apple Maps service.

Apple shared the following notice both online and in various Canadian newspapers:

People that worked for Apple through a staffing agency have revealed some grim details of what it’s like to work for Apple as a contracted employee.

Working on Apple’s mapping projects just a few miles from Apple Park sounds like a dream opportunity, but it turns out the Silicon Valley-based gig isn’t nearly as glamorous as you’d think. A new report about Apple’s temporary workers reveals the “culture of fear” contracted employees face.

DuckDuckGo teamed up with Apple to  protect user privacy for map and address-related searches. Their agreement gives users of the search engine access to continually updated maps, enhanced satellite imagery and more without exposing their data.

The pairing seems natural as both Apple and DuckDuckGo have taken strong stances on protecting user privacy.

Turn-by-turn navigation in Apple Maps has expanded its reach to one of Apple’s most important markets. Users in India can finally take advantage of the feature when driving or walking.

Apple has also added the ability to book a cab through Uber or Ola from within the Maps app.

Waze CEO Norm Bardin will never forget the day his company started on the path from small startup to becoming practically a household name. He says the beginning of this rise is all due to Apple and its CEO.

But that wasn’t really Tim Cook’s plan. Waze’s success is due to a bad, bad time for Apple.