Street View on Google Maps

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on October 28, 2012

Street View for Google Maps brings Google's incredible Street View feature to your smartphone's Google Maps app. Like the regular version, it lets you take a virtual stroll down a large (and ever-growing) database of the world's streets. You can turn around, change directions, and zoom in, all while viewing high-resolution images of the actual buildings, trees, and street scenes you'd see if you were there in person. But the Android app is actually easier to use than the desktop software.

Street View doesn't have its own icon but is integrated with Google Maps. To access it, simply search for a location or long-press any site on the map and tap the thumbnail. If a Street View is available, it pops up. To navigate, simply place the Pegman figure where you want to go. With a few swipes of your finger you can rotate the view, and tapping moves you down the road. It's actually a much more intuitive and user-friendly control than using the mouse in the desktop version, which is perfect for this app because it adds an incredibly useful and unique feature to an essential app, Google Maps. Travelers have never had a tool like this, and that goes for armchair travelers, too; if you haven't used Street View for virtual tours of interesting places around the world or around the block, you are seriously missing out. Is something happening on the news? See where it's happening. Can't tell apartment buildings apart? Street View can. Looking for a nearby bar? This app will steer you straight. Of course, not every street has been photographed by Google's 3D camera cars (yet). From the Eiffel Tower to Grant's Tomb, though, Street View covers it.

Google Maps Street View might be the best Android app ever (just ask an iOS user). If your Android phone or device didn't come with it, get it. You'll be glad you did the next time you're semi-lost. A quick search will orient you like no flat map ever could: Just compare the Street View to your actual view. You'll find yourself.