How many times have you wandered around an unknown location, staring at the map on your phone and wondering where to turn? As a pedestrian, orienting oneself with bird’s-eye directions is far from intuitive. Google Maps’ free Live View mode fixes that, using augmented reality to lay instructions on top of what you’re seeing live on the street via your smartphone camera’s viewfinder—“effectively aligning your map with the real world,” says Andre Le, lead designer for Live View. So far, Google has Street View coverage for about half the world, and Live View was launched in tricky multilevel transit hubs, airports and malls in Tokyo prior to the Olympic Games (as well as in Zurich). The company is still piloting indoor locations in the U.S., such as shopping malls, but tens of millions have already used Live View globally. —Alison Van Houten
- TIME's Top 100 Photos of 2021
- Inside Frances Haugen's Decision to Take on Facebook
- Why We Should Stop Freaking Out About Inflation
- Austria's Plan to Make COVID-19 Vaccines Compulsory Is Dividing Citizens — and Experts
- Inside the 80-Year Quest to Name Pearl Harbor's Unknown Victims
- Buying a House Feels Impossible These Days. Here Are 6 Innovative Paths to Homeownership
- 'They're Very Close.' U.S. General Says Iran Is Nearly Able to Build a Nuclear Weapon
- A Charter School's Racial Controversy Reveals the Real Battle For America's Classrooms
