I’ve never really been able to get behind the whole augmented reality thing. I tried it with the Yelp iPhone app once while I was on vacation in a large city, but it hasn’t really changed my life in any way. If there’s any platform I can see augmented reality really taking off, it’s on smartphones.

The developers at Crossfader have released something really cool: an augmented reality layer for Maps on the iPhone. Both Apple and Google Maps are supported, and the app itself is totally free.

Apple announced a brand spanking new Maps application alongside iOS 6 at WWDC yesterday, and the Cupertino company has ditched Google Maps for its own mapping technologies. While much of the new Maps app is powered solely by Apple, TomTom is referenced directly in the new iOS 6 Maps app as well.

While the iOS 6 Maps app is still in the very early beta stages, Apple has baked in new features that make it a killer Google Maps replacement, including turn-by-turn navigation, Siri integration, and an enhanced “Flyover” 3D viewing mode.

A very interesting factoid has been revealed in the newly-released iPhoto for iOS: Apple isn’t using Google Maps. More specifically, Apple is using its own mapping technology to provide map tiles in its brand new photo editing app.

There have been rumors for many months saying that Apple is working on proprietary mapping technology to replace Google Maps, and it looks like the rumors are true.

We recently told you about Apple’s acquisition of geo mapping company C3 Technologies. By utilizing state of the art satellite technology, C3 Technologies specialized in enhanced 3D maps that put Google’s map images to shame.

C3 Technologies was apparently working on more than just beautiful 3D mapping. The company was also focusing on making interior mapping a reality.

Open up the App Store on your iPhone and you’ll find a plethora of apps that introduce augmented reality to your iPhone, but for now, that’s the only way you can get it. Apple is yet to make augmented reality a native feature, but a recently discovered patent application suggests the technology could one day appear in the built-in Maps app for iOS.