Images like this will now be available directly on Android devices, via the new standalone Street View on Google Maps app
Google’s famed Street View is now available as a standalone app on Android devices, it has been announced.
While Street View on Google Maps (version 2.0) doesn’t appear to be available in Ireland just yet – on Siliconrepublic.com Android devices, it is still folded into the Maps app – it is apparently live on the Play Store for certain users.
Though we couldn’t test the standalone app ourselves, we can tell you what it will feature when it finally arrives on Irish devices.
In addition to reproducing the traditional Street View look, Street View on Google Maps will also offer users the opportunity to search and view photospheres (static 360° images of a location).
Additionally, users will now be able to take and upload their own photospheres directly from the Street View on Google Maps app.
This latter feature slots in well with Google’s apparent move towards using crowdsourcing to populate Street View and image the entire world.
Google are currently operating the Trekker Loan Programme, loaning out equipment to tourism boards, non-profits, universities, research organisation and anyone else who is willing to use it to capture images of hard-to-reach places.
Fáilte Ireland recently took advantage of the Loan Programme to capture the Blaskets, Croagh Patrick and Newgrange, among many other magnificent Irish sites.
Street View has already gone to many of the world’s most fantastical locations, including the Amazon Rainforest, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, and even below the ocean’s surface.
Photospheres gathered by users of Street View on Google Maps will be added to an existing impressive collection of imagery from around the world.
Main image via Shutterstock
