Google updates Street View app for iOS and Android

Google has released an updated version of its mobile Street View app for both Android and iOS. The upgraded app introduces the ability to navigate with a 360-degree view of the Earth as well as take photos and upload them directly to Google Maps.

“We really want as many people seeing Street View and contributing to it as possible, from all over the world,” said Luc Vincent, Street View’s engineering director in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Vincent further mentioned that millions of people use Street View every day and from now onwards, they can also publish “photo spheres,” which are 360-degree panoramas of their favourite places from around the globe. Within the app, the “Collections” tab group similar images while the “Explore” tab lets the user view all the Street View imagery that exists on the map. There is also a “Private” tab which saves all the images taken but not shared with others. To access all the photo spheres that have been shared on Google Maps, users can check out the “Profile.”

“In one gallery, you can explore Street View collections and content from Google Maps alongside photo spheres contributed from people around the globe,” said Charles Armstrong, Product Manager at Google Maps on the official blog.

In the app, the orange button floating in the lower right corner helps the user to navigate to a photo-sphere camera. Even if the user does not have a Google Photos account, the photo spheres will still be saved in the Street View app.

The updated Street View app will replace the existing Photo Sphere Camera app on iPhones and the Street View from Google Maps app on Android phones. The new Street View app is already available on the iTunes and Google Play.

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