Flyover (Apple Maps)

Flyover is a feature on Apple Maps that allows users to view certain cities in a 3D setting. Flyover also allows users to take "tours" of these cities, showcasing various landmarks in the area.[1][2] Imagery is provided through the use of drones, which collect fine data on buildings.

Flyover
Initial releaseSeptember 19, 2012 (2012-09-19)
PlatformiOS, iPadOS, macOS
Available inMultiple languages

Initially founded in 2012, along with Apple Maps itself, Flyover now covers over 300 cities, landmarks, and parks across five of the six inhabited continents. Despite earlier innacuraccies, Flyover has been praised for its detail and uniqueness.

History

Flyover was announced along with Apple Maps at the WWDC 2012.[3] The 10 initial cities that first received Flyover were Chicago, Copenhagen, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle and Sydney.[4] Other cities would receive Flyover in later years, with Apple often adding Flyover to multiple cities at a time.[5][6]

In Canada, Toronto first received Flyover in 2012,[7] followed by Vancouver a year later.[8]

In 2013, Flyover was added to Paris, as well as smaller cities such as Indianapolis and Baltimore.[9][10] In addition, Flyover was also added to London, Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid in 2013.[11]

Cologne, in Germany, received Flyover in 2013,[12] along with Mannheim and Stuttgart in 2015.[13]

Flyover was added to around 10 cities, including Cape Town and two Arizona National Parks in 2014,[14] with Marseille, the second-largest city in France, receiving Flyover coverage later in the year as well.[15] The capital of Japan, Tokyo, also received Flyover that year.[16]

South Africa, the only African nation to have Flyover, first saw the feature with Cape Town in 2014, with Durban and Johannesburg receiving the feature in later years.[17]

Flyover was added to over 20 cities and locations in 2015, including Canberra and Venice.[18][19] Another 20 were added in 2016 as well.[20] Flyover was also added to Budapest, in Hungary in 2015[21] and Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic later in the year.[22]

Guadalajara, the largest city in Mexico to have the feature, also received Flyover in 2015.[23]

Flyover was added to another several locations in 2018, including San Juan in Puerto Rico and Karlsruhe in Germany.[24]

2019 saw Apple's biggest Flyover expansion, with the feature being added to over 30 cities in France, Japan, the United States, and others.[25]

After 2019, Apple largely stopped adding Flyovers, largely in favor of working on the newer Look Around feature. However, Apple has recently added some new Flyovers, expanding to Amsterdam in 2020[26] and Vienna in 2023.[27]

Use

Apple collects the 3D data used for Flyover by using small drone-like planes, which fly up close to buildings to create a more detailed map. Since 2013, C3 Technologies, which was acquired by Apple in 2011, has collected the data used for Flyover.[28]

With Flyover, certain locations – mostly big cities, landmarks and some national parks – can be seen from a birds-eye perspective. The three-dimensional views are photo-realistic, and users can change the perspective.[29] Most, but not all cities with Flyover allow 3D tours of the given city, where a quick virtual tour of various landmarks in the city will be shown.[30]

Coverage

Flyovers are available in various cities and national parks across 28 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.[31]

Locations with Flyovers
Country Locations
 AustraliaAdelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Rottnest Island, Sydney, Twelve Apostles
 AustriaGraz, Linz, Salzburg, Vienna
 BahamasFreeport, Nassau
 BelgiumAntwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Ghent
 CanadaAbbotsford, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria
 Czech RepublicBrno, Prague
 DenmarkAarhus, Copenhagen, Odense
 FinlandHelsinki
 FranceAix-en-Provence, Ajaccio, Amiens, Angers, Annecy, Arcachon, Avignon, Bastia, Besançon, Béziers, Biarritz, Bonifacio, Bordeaux, Calvi, Cannes, Carcassonne, Chambord, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Chenonceaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Collioure, Corte, Dijon, Gorges de l'Ardèche, Gorges Du Verdon, La Rochelle, Le Mans, Lens, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, Millau, Mont Saint-Michel, Montpellier, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Omaha Beach, Paris, Perpignan, Pont du Gard, Porto-Vecchio, Propriano, Reims, Remoulins, Rennes, Saint-Étienne, Saint-Tropez, Strasbourg, Toulouse
 GermanyAugsburg, Berlin, Bielefeld, Braunschweig, Bremen, Cologne, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Münster, Neuschwanstein Castle, Nuremberg, Stuttgart
 HungaryBudapest
 IrelandCliffs of Moher, Cork, Dublin
 ItalyAncona, Bari, Bobbio, Cittadella, Florence, Genoa, Messina, Milan, Naples, Padua, Paestum, Palermo, Parma, Pavia, Perugia, Pisa, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Sanremo, Taormina, Treviso, Turin, Venice
 JapanAizuwakamatsu, Akita, Aomori, Fukuyama, Gifu, Hagi, Hakodate, Hamamatsu, Hikone, Himeji, Hiroshima, Izumo, Izushi, Kanazawa, Kitakyushu, Kobe, Kumamoto, Kurashiki, Matsue, Matsumoto, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Naha, Niigata, Odawara, Okayama, Osaka, Sakai, Sapporo, Sendai, Shizuoka, Takahashi, Takamatsu, Tōjinbō, Tokyo, Toyama, Tsu, Tsunoshima, Yokkaichi
 MexicoAcapulco, Chichen Itza, Cuernavaca, Culiacán, Ensenada, Guadalajara, Guaymas, Hermosillo, La Paz, Loreto, Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Mexicali, Oaxaca, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Teotihuacan, Tijuana, Tulum
 MonacoFull coverage
 NetherlandsAmsterdam, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Utrecht
 New ZealandAuckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Queenstown, Wellington
 PortugalBraga, Coimbra, Porto
 San MarinoFull coverage
 South AfricaDurban, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria
 SpainA Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Barcelona, Cáceres, Cádiz, Córdoba, Ciudad Real, Gijón, Granada, Huelva, Jerez de la Frontera, León, Lugo, Madrid, Manilva, Murcia, Pamplona, Salamanca, San Sebastian, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, Vigo, Infantes, Zaragoza
 SwedenGothenburg, Helsingborg, Linköping, Malmö, Stockholm, Visby
  SwitzerlandBasel, Bern
 TaiwanTaichung
 United KingdomBelfast, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bristol, British Virgin Islands, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Gibraltar, Glasgow, Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Stonehenge, Sunderland, Wolverhampton
 United StatesSee below
  Vatican CityFull coverage
Locations in the  United States with Flyovers
State/territory Locations
AlabamaMobile
ArizonaGrand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Powell, Meteor Crater, Monument Valley, Phoenix, Tucson
ArkansasFayetteville
CaliforniaBakersfield, Catalina Island, El Centro, Fresno, Joshua Tree National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Los Angeles, Mammoth Lakes, Merced, Modesto, Oakland, Palm Springs, Pinnacles National Park, Porterville, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, South Lake Tahoe, Stockton, Visalia, Yosemite National Park, Yuba City
ConnecticutStamford
ColoradoDenver, Royal Gorge
FloridaBradenton, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Miami, Pensacola, Sarasota, Tallahassee
GeorgiaAthens, Atlanta
HawaiiBig Island[lower-alpha 1], Kahului, Kapaa, Lahaina, Lihue, Oahu
IdahoBoise
IllinoisChicago
IndianaIndianapolis, South Bend
KansasWichita
KentuckyLouisville
LouisianaBaton Rouge, New Orleans
MainePortland
MarylandBaltimore
MassachusettsBoston, Foxborough, Martha's Vineyard, Salem, Springfield
MichiganDetroit, Grand Rapids
MinnesotaMinneapolis, Saint Paul
MissouriSpringfield, St. Louis
NebraskaOmaha
NevadaHoover Dam, Las Vegas
New MexicoAlbuquerque, Santa Fe
New YorkAlbany, Buffalo, New York City, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Schenectady
North CarolinaGreensboro, Raleigh
OhioAkron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo
OklahomaOklahoma City, Tulsa
OregonPortland, Salem
PennsylvaniaAllentown, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Puerto RicoAguadilla, Arecibo, Mayagüez, Ponce, San Juan
Rhode IslandProvidence
South Carolina Charleston, Columbia
South DakotaMount Rushmore, Rapid City
TennesseeMemphis, Nashville
TexasAmarillo, Arlington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, San Antonio
US Virgin IslandsFull coverage
UtahArches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, Zion National Park
WashingtonBellingham, Mount Vernon, Seattle, Tacoma
WisconsinGreen Bay, Milwaukee
WyomingCheyenne, Devils Tower

3D coverage is generally not limited to the cities targeted for Flyover (see above) and often covers surrounding towns and communities in the area. For example, Cologne and Düsseldorf both have Flyover, and in addition to their coverage, all areas between the two cities, such as Solingen and Leverkusen, also have Flyover.

Controversy

Errors

Similar to Maps itself, Flyover saw many visual issues upon release, a notable one showing a massive glitch on the Brooklyn and Anzac Bridges, showing "plunges" on both structures.[32] This was part of a larger series of technical issues with Apple Maps, most of which have since been fixed.

Security concerns

In 2013, the Norwegian government denied a request by Apple to add Flyover to Oslo, the Norwegian capital, citing security concerns arising from the amount of detail given to buildings, information which could potentially be used to carry out terrorist attacks.[33][34] As of 2023, Flyover remains unavailable in Oslo. Similar security concerns may be preventing Apple from adding Flyover to other potentially sensitive areas, including Washington D.C., among others.[35]

See also

Notes
  1. Only includes Kailua-Kona and other towns on the western side of the island

References
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  2. "Take awesome VR tours with Apple Map's Flyover feature". CNET. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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  4. "Here All All The Cities You Can Flyover In iOS 6 Maps". Cult of Mac. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  5. "New Flyover and indoor maps locations now available in Apple Maps". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  6. "Apple adds 11 more cities to Flyover on its maps". Actualidad iPhone. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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  10. "Apple's Maps being updated often and significantly". The Loop. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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  13. "Here are all the amazing new locations you can fly over with Apple Maps". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
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  16. "Tokyo, Zion National Park Added to Apple Maps Flyover Feature". MacRumors. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  17. "Apple Adds 20 New Flyover Locations Around the World, New Maps Info in Taiwan and Finland". MacRumors. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  18. "Apple Adds 20 New Flyover Locations to Maps". MacRumors. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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  20. "Apple Adds 20 New Flyover Locations Around the World, New Maps Info in Taiwan and Finland". MacRumors. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  21. "Tour Budapest in 3D with Apple Maps – Flyover Tour". We Love Budapest. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  22. "Praha začala podporovat FlyOver v Apple Maps!". Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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  29. "Apple: Maps". Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  30. "Take Flyover tours in Maps on iPhone". Apple Inc. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  31. "iOS and iPadOS 17 Feature Availability". Apple Inc. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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  34. "Norway Blocks Apple From 3D Mapping Oslo For Maps App Flyover View". Huff Post. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  35. "Why Norway is blocking Apple Maps from taking 3D images of Oslo". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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