This Image Proves Apple Maps Isn't Yet a Google Maps Killer

The detailed city experience is Apple Maps' biggest update in history, comprising in-house maps with incredible details, such as sidewalks, crosswalks, medians, trees, 3D buildings, landmarks, and improved navigation.

Look Around is one of the main components of the detailed city experience, providing users with an alternative to Google's Street View. Look Around has the same role as Street View, offering street-level imagery from locations worldwide.

However, Look Around offers better-quality images, as Apple has been focusing specifically on image resolution when collecting data.

The biggest problem is the slow Look Around release pace. Apple has never been in a rush to bring the detailed city experience and Look Around to users worldwide, so the new maps and features are currently available in a very limited number of regions.

An image recently posted on reddit is living proof. Reddit user KickNo5073 created an image that comprises all European roads where Apple Maps' Look Around is available, showing that large countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Slovakia, and many Balkan countries, are currently not included.

The support for European roads is frustratingly limited, often pushing users to Google Maps and Street View. Google offers much better support worldwide, including in Europe, as its street-level imagery is already available in all the countries where Look Around is missing.

Apple doesn't seem to be in a hurry to improve the Look Around availability, keeping certain countries out of the supported lists for no reason. Ireland and the United Kingdom have already been surveyed, so Apple has the data to release Look Around here, but the feature is still unavailable for whatever reason. All users in these regions who want to explore a location with street-level imagery have no option but to switch to Google Street View.

Apple does want to build a Google Maps killer, but the company can't keep up with its rival, especially from a must-have feature perspective. Leaving aside the Look Around availability in Europe (which makes Apple Maps a solid choice only in part of the United States), Apple has also been late to the offline maps party.

Google Maps has been offering support for offline navigation for several years, but Apple introduced this feature earlier this year as part of the iOS 17 update. Apple Maps users can now navigate without an Internet connection if they download the required maps before beginning a journey, though given the lack of updated maps in most regions worldwide, Google Maps still serves as the preferred choice for the majority of users, including many iPhone and CarPlay adopters.