Extensive Updates Make Apple Maps Even Greater

As part of an ongoing effort to improve and expand upon its home-brewed Maps service, Apple moved forward Thursday by adding several new features to the platform — including Flyover in four new locales, public transit data for Los Angeles, a European expansion of nearby points of interest (POI) suggestions, and traffic data for both Hong Kong and Mexico.

Posted on the company’s official iOS Feature Availability webpage, Apple’s newest additions include Flyover support in Aomori, Japan; Bruges, Belgium; Lake Powell, Utah; and Limoges, France. In addition to the four cities, Flyover is currently available in 220 locales around the globe; the latest update to Maps in December, 2015, added addition Flyover support for destinations in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.

Flyover, which happens to be a premier feature of Apple’s Maps service, applies high-resolution imagery to computer-generated 3D models, which, in turn, creates vivid, immersive renderings of buildings, landmarks, and other topographical features in supported locales. Additionally, to that end, Apple is said to be at work on a competitor to Google’s ‘street-view,’ a rivaling feature that renders street-level detail for easier navigation in metropolitan areas.

Also added to the mix of new features, Apple made available traffic data for users in Hong Kong and Mexico, as well as iOS 9’s new ‘Nearby’ feature for residents of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Introduced as a new feature in the latest iteration of iOS maps, Apple’s Nearby feature provides automated, close-proximity search results for users in several different frequently queried categories of businesses — such as Food, Drink, Health, and Services, among others.

When Apple first introduced Nearby search, the feature was limited to six countries including the U.S., France, and certain parts of China.

Learn More: Apple Maps Is Officially More Popular than Google Maps with iOS Users

Do you reside in any of the latest locales to be served by Apple’s Nearby search,
Flyover, or Public Transit/Traffic data features?
What do you think about these new developments in Maps?
Is there a different feature you’d like to see in the next update?