Apple completes rollout of upgraded Apple Maps to the whole U.S.

Right on time, Apple has completed its rollout of an improved Apple Maps across the U.S., according to AppleInsider. The company promised back at WWDC that by the end of 2019 its maps across the country would include more detail regarding roads, bike paths, parking lots, parks, and more.

AppleInsider shared a tweet containing a before-and-after comparison that shows significantly more detail in one area of the U.S. Southeast.

Still a long way to go — Apple first released its Maps app back in 2012 to poor reception but has been working methodically since then to bring it up to par with Google Maps. Last month, the company revealed in a response to an antitrust probe that it has spent billions of dollars on the revamped Maps product.

Google is still the clear leader in mapping, especially on a global basis; its Maps navigation is available in thousands of cities compared to Apple’s tens. Apple Maps does take a more privacy-centric approach as you might expect, with data remaining on-device rather than being stored in the cloud for later. Google has received a lot of pushback for its Timeline tool, which keeps a log of every place you’ve been in an online dashboard. It recently added an incognito mode to Maps to prevent the app from logging history.

Google has many years in the field over Apple, so it’s going to take time for the company to catch up. Apple Maps has slowly been adding functionality reminiscent of Google Maps, like street-level photography and the option to hail cars from Uber and Lyft.

Like Google’s iconic Street View cars, Apple mapping vehicles are now a frequent sight on roads around the U.S. In Apple style, however, their design is much more subdued.