This past summer, Apple brought Apple Maps to the web, and now it's expanding that with even more features to help you get the most out of its mapping service without having to reach for your iPhone or iPad.

While Apple has allowed developers to embed web-based versions of its maps for years through MapKit JS, 2024 marks the first time there's been a way for anyone to hit up Apple Maps directly in a browser. However, Apple has been rolling the experience out in phases, meaning you still had to return to the Maps app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to access features like Look Around or use non-English languages.

Apple promised that Look Around would be coming over the next few months, and it looks like it's managed to deliver before the year is up. It began quietly rolling it out into Apple Maps on the Web last week -- around December 11, according to 9to5Mac -- and it should now be available in all the same places that Look Around works in the Maps app.

Look Around is Apple's take on Google's Street View, and while Apple Maps was seriously late to the party, once Apple began rolling it out, the experience has proven to be far superior. It launched with iOS 13 in 2019 and was initially confined to San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Honolulu. Over the following year, Apple expanded it to encompass New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Seattle, and Phoenix in the US, London and Edinburgh in the UK, Dublin, Ireland and Tokyo, Osaka, and four other cities in Japan.

Then, in late 2020, it exploded with a massive expansion into Canada that covered 99% of the population, from sprawling metropolises like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver to small communities like Latchford, Ontario (pop. 313). Since then, Apple has added Look Around imagery for 84 areas worldwide, many more of which have followed the Canadian rollout by encompassing entire countries.

There aren't any real surprises in the version of Look Around that's come to Apple Maps on the Web. It provides the same 360-degree panoramic views with the ability to pan in every direction and click to move through the streets. However, it should be particularly useful to iPhone owners with Windows PCs, since it's easier to get a full-screen view of what you're looking at. The web version doesn't offer anything that Mac users can't already do through the macOS Maps app other than perhaps the convenience of accessing it in the browser instead of flipping over to a separate app.

Apple Maps on the web is still considered a "beta," which is also reflected in the URL. You'll have to visit beta.maps.apple.com to access it, and you'll need to be using a supported browser. Thankfully, Apple has expanded that list since its initial launch. Edge, Chrome, and Firefox now work on both Mac and Windows, while Mac users can naturally also use Safari. The addition of Look Around brings the web-based version much closer to the Maps apps. However, it's still missing key features like transit directions and the accompanying transit layer, which are useful when planning trips. However, you can still get driving or walking directions between any two locations, plus support for Guides to find interesting locations, business information, reviews, and even buttons for ordering food or purchasing tickets.