How to visit cities in 3D using these iPhone tricks

Exploring your city on Maps is fun and educational, but you normally end up getting flat satellite images of places. What if you could explore any city in 3D from your iPhone? The latest iPhone update lets you see cities in 3D on the Apple Maps app.

Let’s find out how to explore cities in 3D from your iPhone using various methods.

Explore cities in 3D using Apple Maps

If your iPhone is updated to iOS 15 or later, you can have 3D cities in the Maps app. With tons of additions including the 3D map, Apple Maps on iPhone is gradually taking over navigation. Anyway, let’s see how to explore a city in 3D using the Maps app.

On your iPhone, open the app Maps and look for a city.

Pinch the screen for zoom in the city on Maps.

When the cityscapes are visible, simply touch the button ” 3D ”In the upper right corner of the screen. Alternatively, you can swipe up on your iPhone screen using two fingers.

Now the city turns into a 3D map on your iPhone. Buildings, constructions and even trees can be seen in full 3D images. The things you see in 3D maps are 3D drawings and not real shapes.

You can swipe in any direction on the iPhone screen to navigate the city, zoom in or out and do even more.

Watch the 3D city tour with overflight

Cities selected on Apple Maps have panoramic tours, which show the entire city in its real form rather than just a 3D drawing. There’s also an animated city tour in Apple Maps when you look through the flyover view. Let’s see how to use it.

As we did before, search for a city in Apple Maps, for example San Francisco.

You now have a satellite view of the city on your iPhone. Now, look at the pop-up window at the bottom of the screen for the button ” Flyover “.

You will be taken to the 3D city of real life the moment you tap the Flyover button. Try moving your iPhone to see the whole city in 3D.

Get a 3D map on the Google Maps app

Apple Maps isn’t the first to create a 3D map of cities. Google Maps already has 3D maps for many cities, which you can access from the Google Maps app on your iPhone. If you have the Google Maps app installed, here’s how you can explore cities in 3D.

Open the Google Maps app and search for any city like we did with Apple Maps.

When the map loads, tap the icon levels in the upper right corner of the map.

Select 3D under the heading ” Map details “.

Now, zoom in on the city and swipe up with two fingers on the iPhone screen to see the city in 3D. Move and navigate the city in 3D using Google Maps.

The Google Maps app can show you the 3D map of most cities, but not as realistic as in Apple Maps. Google’s 3D buildings are too square and many things like the Golden Gate Bridge are not seen in 3D. When it comes to Apple Maps, a lot of details are visible and it’s quite fun to look around in any city from your iPhone.