If you have just got your new iPhone you are probably still in awe of the GPS positioning. I'm sure, like me, you have spent time walking around with the compass app for the sheer delight of just seeing it work, I am also sure that, by now, you have found Google Maps and looked on wonderment as it homes in on your location and you will have switched on the satellite view to look at your house as it is seen from space.
What you may not know is that you can also use Google Streetview on your iPhone. If you are not familiar with Streetview it is the reason those strange black cars with odd looking cameras have been prowling the streets. The purpose of Streetview is to give you a street level perspective of the area you are viewing on the map, just as if you were standing there. You can pan and zoom and even move along the street you are viewing. Perhaps you saw a Google car mapping your home town. If you did, the chances are that you might be in the picture!
Here is how to view Streetview on your iPhone.
- Open Google Maps
- Make sure you have positioning switched on. If you are using IOS4 then you should have a little compass pointer icon showing in the top right of the screen next to the battery level indicator. If not, press the little compass icon at the bottom left of the screen, it will turn blue and zoom in to your location.
- Next you need to drop a pin.
- Press the roled page icon at the bottom right of the screen to reveal some additional options
- Press the "Drop Pin" button to drop a pin onto the map
- You can move the pin by holding and dragging it to a new location on the map
- Notice the bar that appears above the pin with the location details
- To the left of the bar you will see a small, round, red icon containing the shape of a person
- Click the small red icon and all will be revealed! You are now in Streetview mode
- Move around the map by scrolling and tapping, double-tap to zoom
- If you want to return to the standard view, tap the round map icon at the bottom right of the screen
There you have it, Streetview on the iphone.
Enjoy.
