Google Maps announced on Thursday that iPhone users will “soon” get to experience an updated Live View when location sharing, along with all Android users. Google Pixel users last month started seeing the upgraded Live View that features even more helpful arrows and direction guidance to find a pinned location.
Google made the announcement in a blog post. Augmented reality in Google Maps bring digital arrows, pins, and markers right in front of you as you walk while looking through your phone’s camera. Google Maps calls it Live View. It’s been around since August 2019, and it’s incredibly helpful when a person is trying to get oriented or find an address or pinned location.
With the update, if a user opens Live View in the Maps app when a friend shares a pin from a park, the user will see arrows and directions telling him/her exactly where to walk. This works best once the user is in the vicinity and have the phone held out in front of the walking path. The user needs to click on Live View and instead of guessing which meadow the other person is, the user will be directed right to the other person’s direction.
Google Maps has also updated its Live View to label landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Empire State Building and put pinned location markers in more accurate alignment. The list of cities where landmarks will show up includes Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Dubai, Florence, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Kyoto, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New York, Osaka, Paris, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, and Vienna. It should be noted that Live View only works on AR-compatible phones.
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