Google adds Street View to browser-based Maps for iOS 6

Google has updated the mobile version of its Maps application which will allow users to access the Street View function on iOS devices.

The mapping tool, which now runs through the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad, will offer Street View as an optional presentation method alongside the traditional Maps layout.

"To make Google Maps even more comprehensive, accurate and useful, today we’re making Street View available on mobile browsers," Google Maps product manager Amanda Leicht said in a post to the company's Lat Long blog.

"With access to Street View on your phone, you can use panoramic, street-level imagery to explore and navigate the places around you, even on the go."

While the mapping feature does require the Safari browser to run, Google noted that iOS users can still create a direct link to Maps on their iOS devices by saving a bookmark of the page to the device's home screen.

Since the release of Apple's iOS 6 update, the browser-based version of Maps has become the only way to access Google's mapping tool on the iPhone. Apple opted to remove the Google maps application from iOS in favour of its own mapping application.

That platform got off to a rocky start, however, when users began to complain of the poor quality of Apple's in-house Maps tool. Shortly after the release, Apple chief executive Tim Cook issued a public apology for the incident.