In June, Apple finally made Apple Maps web browser compatible, allowing people without iPhones or Macs to access the navigation system for the first time. that version of Apple Maps was a bit limited because it was still in beta, but now it has received a useful Google Maps-inspired upgrade.

Apple has added a Look Around feature to Apple Maps on the web; for those unfamiliar with Apple Maps, it is essentially Apple's take on Google Street View, allowing you to see different locations from street level from the street level. Of course, not all locations are available, nor is the system as intuitive as Street View offers.

While Google Maps allows you to click on a specific area or drag a yellow pinman onto the map to load a Street View, Apple's system is different. As long as you are looking at a city that supports look-around, you cannot take your eyes off the set of binoculars in the lower left corner. Clicking on it launches a Look Around pop-up window that superimposes the Street View on the map.

This works much the same way as Google's Street View, allowing you to rotate 360 degrees and click on distant locations. You can also move the larger map if you want a little more control over your destination.

I managed to get Look Around up and running in Google Chrome on Windows, and it seems to work quite well. However, it took me a while to figure out how to get started because Apple just expects you to know what to do. The only real downside is that Lookaround is much more limited than Street View, which covers almost the entire world in some form.

Only some cities in the US, Canada, EU, UK, and Australia are supported, with a full list on Apple's website. But even if you live in other parts of the world, there's nothing to stop you from walking around a virtual city with Look Around.

It is unclear whether Apple will expand Look Around in the future, but it has promised to improve the beta version of Apple Maps Web. With more features, platforms, and language support apparently on the way, expect Apple Maps to finally make its way to Android in some form in the near future. Loyal Android users may be appalled at the idea, but there is no better option than to have something other than the two major Google-owned navigation apps.