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.
Background
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.
In 2017, Apple started surveying Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Slovenia. A year later, in 2018, Apple started collecting imagery in Japan.
In 2019, Apple started releasing the new map in United States. In January, California received the new map. In April, Arizona and New Mexico got the new map. In May 2019, Apple announced plans to begin collecting data for Apple Maps in Canada. In November, the new map covered 51% of the United States. In December, the entire United States is covered by the new map.
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. Apple began testing the new map in the United Kingdom and Ireland on August 23, 2020, and published it on October 1, 2020. Apple launched testing of its new map in Canada on October 20, 2020, before deploying it on December 10, 2020.
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. Apple started testing its new map data in Spain and Portugal on April 22, 2021, with the maps launching in June 2021. On September 10, 2021, Apple published new map data in Andorra, Italy, San Marino, and Vatican City. Apple began testing its new maps in Australia on October 19, 2021, publishing the new data on December 9, 2021.
In 2021, Apple started collecting imagery in Hungary, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Poland, the Czech Republic, 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. 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. 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. The Look Around feature was enabled in all of Germany on July 25, 2022.
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 3, 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.
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. On March 10, 2023, Apple began testing its new map data in Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia. The new maps were released on April 6, 2023. 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. 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.
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 () emblazoned on the car. In December of the same year, Look Around was released on the web version of Apple Maps.
Overall in 2024, Apple began collecting imagery in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Vietnam.
On January 25, 2025, Apple began testing its new map data in Thailand, with the official launch occurring on May 8, 2025. Apple released Look Around in most of Mexico on August 21, 2025.
In 2025, Apple began collecting imagery in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
As of May 2025, Look Around covers around 82 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, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Taiwan, Austria, Greece, Denmark, Hong Kong, Monaco and Mexico.
Refine Location 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. As of May 2021, the following areas have received the Refine Location feature:
+ Locations with Refine Location Country Location Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney Graz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna Antwerp, Brussels Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Winnipeg Split, Zagreb Prague Copenhagen Helsinki Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Reims, Rouen, Toulouse Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart Athens Budapest Dublin Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Bologna, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Venice Fukuoka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo Luxembourg Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington Oslo Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław Lisbon, Porto Singapore Ljubljana Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cordoba, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Pamplona, Seville, Valladolid, Zaragoza Malmö, Stockholm Bern, Geneva, Zürich Taichung City, Taipei Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pattaya, Phuket, Udon Thani Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Maui, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Oahu, Oklahoma City, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, Riverside, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, D.C.
AR Walking Directions 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:
+ Locations with AR Walking Directions Country Location Andorra Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney Vienna Brussels Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg Prague Helsinki Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Paris Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, 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, Takasaki, Tokyo, Yokohama Liechtenstein Luxembourg Monaco Amsterdam, Rotterdam Auckland, Wellington Warsaw Lisbon City of San Marino Singapore Ljubljana Barcelona, Bilbao, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Seville, Valencia Gothenburg, Stockholm Basel, Geneva, Zurich Taipei Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Gibraltar, Glasgow, Kingston Upon Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield, Southend-on-Sea, 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
Timeline of introductions