Look Around is a technology featured in Apple Maps that provides interactive panoramas from positions along a number of streets in various countries.Look Around allows the user to view 360° street-level imagery, with smooth transitions as the scene is navigated. Look Around was introduced with iOS 13 at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2019. It was publicly released as part of iOS 13 on September 19, 2019.[1]
In early 2015, vehicles equipped with twelve cameras and lidar sensors were seen in a variety of locations in the United States. These vehicles were owned by Apple and were also seen in places like the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Sweden. In June 2015, Apple stated on its website that the vehicles were collecting data to improve Apple Maps. Also, Apple claimed to secure privacy by making faces and license plates unrecognizable. In 2018 Apple confirmed in an article that it was rebuilding Apple Maps, with the first results rolled out in California.[2]
In 2017, Apple started surveying Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Slovenia. A year later, in 2018, Apple started collecting imagery in Japan.
In May 2019, Apple announced plans to begin collecting data for Apple Maps in Canada.[3]
Overall in 2019, Apple started collecting imagery in Andorra, Canada, San Marino, Germany and Australia.
During WWDC on June 22, 2020, Apple announced its new maps would be coming to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Canada later in the year.[4]
Overall in 2020, Apple started collecting imagery in Monaco, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Israel, New Zealand and Singapore.
During WWDC 2021 on June 7, 2021, Apple announced that Spain and Portugal would receive the new maps that day, with both Australia and Italy getting them later in the year.[5] On September 10, 2021, Apple published new map data in Andorra, Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City.[6] Apple began testing its new maps in Australia on October 19, 2021, publishing the new data on December 9, 2021.[7]
Overall in 2021, Apple started collecting imagery in Hungary, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Poland, Czechia, Austria, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
On March 7, 2022, Apple started collecting imagery in Greece. On March 4, 2022, Apple began testing its new map in Germany and Singapore. On April 21, 2022, Munich and most of Singapore received Look Around alongside the new maps.[8] On May 14, 2022, Apple started collecting imagery in Denmark. On May 29, 2022, Apple began testing its new map in France, Monaco, and New Zealand, with the maps launching on July 7, 2022.[9] On June 3, 2022, Apple announced a first round of imagery collection in Mexico, which began in August 2022. During Apple's WWDC event in June 2022, it was announced that eleven new countries would receive the new maps by the end of the year, including Belgium, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland.[10] The Look Around feature was enabled in all of Germany on July 25, 2022.[11]
Apple started testing its new map data in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia on August 5, 2022. In September 2022, Apple announced the start of image collection in Thailand, which began in October 2022. On November 2, 2022, Apple started testing its new map data in Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The new data was released on December 15, 2022, alongside Israel, Palestinian Territories, and Saudi Arabia.[12]
Overall in 2022, Apple began collecting imagery in Greece, Denmark, Mexico, and Thailand.
On January 23, 2023, Apple began testing its new map data in Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. On March 2, 2023, the new maps were launched in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.[13] On March 10, 2023, Apple began testing its new map data in Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia.[14] The new maps were released on April 6, 2023.[15] On April 17, 2023, Apple began surveying the United Arab Emirates. On May 2, 2023, Apple began testing its new map in Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan.[16] The new map data was published for these countries in June 2023. On July 31, 2023, Apple began testing its new maps in Denmark and Greece, with the map data officially launching on October 12, 2023.[17] [18]
As of July 2023, Look Around covers around 80 areas, including parts of the United Kingdom (which includes the overseas territory of Gibraltar), Ireland, Canada, Japan, Andorra, Spain (including the Balearic and Canary Islands), Portugal, Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily), San Marino, Australia, Germany, Singapore, France, New Zealand, the United States, Israel, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Taiwan, Austria, Greece, Denmark and Hong Kong.
Overall in 2023, Apple began collecting imagery in Brazil, India, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.
In January 2024, an Apple Maps car was spotted in USJ 20, Malaysia, with the text Koleksi Imejan Apple Maps (en|Apple Maps Image Collection) emblazoned on the car.[19]
Overall in 2024, Apple began collecting imagery in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Vietnam.
In iOS 14, Apple released a new feature called Refine Location in Apple Maps: if the app cannot otherwise get precise location information, it prompts the user to scan the surrounding area. This uses Look Around data to improve the accuracy of the current location.[20] As of May 2021, the following areas have received the Refine Location feature:
In iOS 15, Apple released a feature called AR Walking Directions in Apple Maps, where the user scans the surrounding area and will show directions. Much like Refine Location, this feature makes use of the surrounding area and improves the accuracy of directions. As of July 2023, the following areas have received AR Walking Directions:
| Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney | ||
| Vienna | ||
| Brussels | ||
| Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg | ||
| Helsinki | ||
| Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris | ||
| Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart | ||
| Hong Kong | ||
| Dublin | ||
| Tel Aviv | ||
| Florence, Milan, Naples, Rome, Turin, Venice | ||
| Aomori, Chiba Prefecture, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Kagoshima, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanazawa, Kawasaki, Kitakyushu, Kobe, Kumamoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Maebashi, Nagoya, Niigata, Okayama, Osaka Prefecture, Sapporo, Sendai, Shizuoka, Takamatsu, Tokyo, Yokohama | ||
| Liechtenstein | ||
| Luxembourg City | ||
| Amsterdam, Rotterdam | ||
| Auckland, Wellington | ||
| Lisbon | ||
| City of San Marino | ||
| Singapore | ||
| Barcelona, Bilbao, Granada, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia, Seville, Valencia | ||
| Gothenburg, Stockholm | ||
| Basel, Geneva, Zürich | ||
| Taipei | ||
| Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Gibraltar, Glasgow, Kingston Upon Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield, Wakefield, Wigan, Wirral | ||
| Akron, Albany, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Anaheim, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Bakersfield, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Billings, Birmingham, Boise, Boston, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbia, Columbus, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Duluth, El Paso, Eugene, Fargo, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Fort Wayne, Fresno, Greensboro, Greenville, Green Bay, Harrisburg, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lansing, Las Vegas, Lincoln, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Mobile, Montgomery, Nashville, Newark, New Haven, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oahu, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Rapid City, Reno, Richmond, Rockford, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, San Juan, Savannah, Scranton, Seattle, Sioux Falls, Spokane, Springfield, St. Louis, St. Paul, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Tampa, Toledo, Topeka, Tucson, Tulsa, Virginia Beach, Washington, D.C., Wichita, Winston-Salem |
| Release date | Major locations added | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 19, 2019[23] |  Las Vegas, Oahu, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz |
| 2 | September 30, 2019[24] | Los Angeles, New York City |
| 3 | November 18, 2019 | Houston |
| 4 | February 19, 2020[25] | Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. |
| 5 | April 20, 2020[26] | Chicago |
| 6 | June 29, 2020[27] | Seattle |
| 7 | August 4, 2020[28] |  Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo |
| 8 | October 1, 2020[29] |  Edinburgh, London Dublin |
| 9 | October 7, 2020[30] | Phoenix |
| 10 | December 4, 2020 | Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Takamatsu |
| 11 | December 10, 2020[31] |  Southern Canada |
| 12 | December 16, 2020[32] | Denver, Detroit, Miami |
| 13 | February 3, 2021[33] | San Diego, Portland |
| 14 | May 12, 2021[34] | Atlanta |
| 15 | May 17, 2021 | Kanazawa, Sendai |
| 16 | June 7, 2021 |  Spain Continental Portugal Gibraltar |
| 17 | September 10, 2021 |  Italy San Marino |
| 18 | October 29, 2021 |  Andorra |
| 19 | December 9, 2021 |  Australia |
| 20 | April 21, 2022 |  Munich Singapore |
| 21 | May 18, 2022 | Frankfurt, Stuttgart |
| 22 | May 27, 2022[35] | Niigata, Sapporo, Shizuoka |
| 23 | June 16, 2022 | Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen |
| 24 | June 30, 2022 | Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig |
| 25 | July 7, 2022 |  Metropolitan France New Zealand |
| 26 | July 25, 2022 | Rest of Germany |
| 27 | December 15, 2022 |  Belgium Israel Liechtenstein Luxembourg Netherlands Switzerland |
| 28 | March 2, 2023 |  Mainland Finland Norway Sweden |
| 29 | April 7, 2023 |  Croatia Czechia Hungary Poland Slovenia |
| 30 | May 20, 2023 | Himeji, Kitakyushu, Maebashi, Okayama |
| 31 | July 27, 2023 | Dallas, Minneapolis, Tampa Bay |
| 32 | September 26, 2023 |  AustriaTaiwan |
| 33 | October 12, 2023 |  Denmark Greece |
| 34 | October 20, 2023 |  Hong Kong |
| 35 | November 2, 2023 | Sacramento |
| 36 | December 10, 2023 | Jacksonville, Orlando |
| 37 | February 8, 2024 | Kumamoto, Utsunomiya |
| 38 | February 15, 2024 | Charlotte, Raleigh |
| 39 | March 28, 2024 | Austin, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and several areas in California |
| 40 | May 17, 2024 |  Monaco |
| 41 | August 15, 2024 | Åland |
| Andorra | Full coverage | |
| Australia | Full coverage | |
| Austria | Full coverage | |
| Belgium | Full coverage | |
| Canada | Full coverage (excluding territories) | |
| Croatia | Full coverage | |
| Full coverage | ||
| Denmark | Full coverage (excluding Faroe Islands and Greenland) | |
| Finland | Full coverage | |
| Metropolitan France | ||
| Germany | Full coverage (excluding smaller German islands) | |
| Greece | Full coverage | |
| Hong Kong | Full coverage (excluding Sai Kung East & West Country Park, Ma Wan and Discovery Bay) | |
| Hungary | Full coverage | |
| Ireland | Carlow, Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow | |
| Israel | Full coverage | |
| Italy | Full coverage | |
| Japan | Fukuoka, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Kitakyushu, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Maebashi, Nagoya, Niigata, Okayama, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Shizuoka, Takamatsu, Tokyo, Utsunomiya | |
| Liechtenstein | Full coverage | |
| Luxembourg | Full coverage | |
| Monaco | Full coverage | |
| Netherlands | Full coverage (excluding Caribbean territories) | |
| New Zealand | Full coverage | |
| Norway | Full coverage (excluding Svalbard) | |
| Poland | Full coverage | |
| Portugal | Continental Portugal | |
| San Marino | Full coverage | |
| Singapore | Full coverage | |
| Slovenia | Full coverage | |
| Spain | Full coverage (excluding Ceuta and Melilla) | |
| Sweden | Full coverage | |
| Switzerland | Full coverage | |
| Full coverage | ||
| United Kingdom | Edinburgh, Gibraltar, London | |
| United States | Anaheim, Atlanta, Austin, Bakersfield, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fresno, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Monterey Bay, New York City, Oahu, Orlando, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Riverside, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, San Luis Obispo–Morro Bay–Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Washington, D.C., Yosemite Valley |
According to the company, Apple's vehicles and pedestrians have visited, or are scheduled to visit, the following countries and territories:[36]
Note: While the new map covers the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, and Vatican City, these countries lack the Look Around feature.
Mexico
Thailand
Brazil
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Estonia
Iceland
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
Malta
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
United Arab Emirates