With developers going through every crevice of the latest iOS 11 beta, it seems that new features and interesting tweaks are being unearthed almost daily. One of the more compelling new iOS 11 features we’ve seen is somewhat hidden inside of Apple’s Maps app. Originally brought to light by Paul Haddad over at Tapbots (via iDownloadblog), it appears that the Maps app in iOS 11 has a retooled Flyover feature that adds an element of virtual reality to the experience.
With the current incarnation of Flyover, users have the ability to explore big cities across the globe from a 3D perspective, similar to the perspective one would see while flying over a city from a low-flying helicopter. As it stands now, users can virtually navigate around a city with Flyover by zooming in and swiping to the left or right.
So what’s changed in iOS 11? Well, users don’t necessarily have to manipulate their iPhone screen directly in order to explore a city in Flyover mode. Rather, users can simply walk forward, backward, or even turn to the right or left. In turn, the scenery will adjust accordingly.
Of course, with a feature like this, a picture — or video in this case — is worth a thousand words. Not to fear: Developers over the past few days have started posting new clips of Apple’s revamped Maps app in action:
You can actually move around by walking🚶🏼! This is crazy cool! pic.twitter.com/ttR6RaAo7D
— Stijn de Vries (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017
This is honestly one of the coolest features in iOS 11! pic.twitter.com/Zjr6RRkKHk
— Stijn de Vries (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017
WOW 😮 There is an VR mode in Apple maps on iOS 11! It seems to use ARKit for positioning! pic.twitter.com/IdXiGoed26
— Stijn de Vries (@StijnDV) June 24, 2017
Holy Flyover Magic Window batman. pic.twitter.com/Fb8nPeLT5J
— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) June 22, 2017
A YouTube video demonstrating the same feature can be seen below.
iOS 11 is set to release later this fall, and if history is any indication, it will drop sometime in mid-September alongside the rollout of brand new iPhones.
