How to increase the angle of tilt in 3d mode in Maps

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Level 1

18 points

How to increase the angle of tilt in 3d mode in Maps

I've seen no comments anywhere about the fantastic resolution of most of the satellite photos used in Apple's Maps app. Most people are using Maps to look at cities, but if you want to be truly amazed, take a look at Maps' satellite views of Canada's northern wilderness. Here are two screenshots of the same location in the Northwest Territories, the first from Maps, and the second from Google Earth Pro:

It's really quite striking, and if I want to see what a wilderness area looks like from the air, I will always choose Maps.

There is one problem however, and that is that if you want to take a good 3D look at an area, the tilt of the Maps 3D view decreases significantly as you zoom in closer to the ground, effectively losing the ability to see what the terrain is really like. Google Earth, of course, gives a great 3D view at practically any angle, but very often (although not always) the resolution of its satellite photos in faraway wilderness areas is so bad that all you see is a big blur.

So my question is, how in Maps do I increase the angle of tilt in 3D view even when close to the ground, just like in Google Earth?

Chris

MacBook Pro 15”, 10.14

Posted on Jul 23, 2019 10:25 AM

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Answer 1

Leanne_68

Community Specialist

Jul 24, 2019 9:14 AM in response to onemac

Hello onemac,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you just want to change the tilt angle on Apple Maps while in 3D view. I'll be happy to show you how.

This link will explain: Zoom, move, rotate, or tilt a map in Maps on Mac - Apple Support

Tilt a map: Click and hold the 3D button , then drag up or down.

Best regards.

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Answer 2

onemac Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 24, 2019 9:14 PM in response to Leanne_68

Hi Starr.C,

Thanks for taking a crack at this. I realize now that I should have worded my question differently. I already knew about how to change the tilt angle, but what I was trying to ask about is how to increase the tilt angle towards the horizontal more than is possible now when near ground level. Let me illustrate.

Here below are screenshots of a part of the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories. I start with a Google Earth (GE) shot showing a range of mountains going northwards.

The next shot is roughly the same view in Maps.

Then I start to zoom in closer to the mountains and in the third shot (GE) you can see that the angle of view hasn't changed...

whereas in the fourth shot (Maps) the angle of view has shifted downwards without any input from me other than zooming in.

Zooming in further, in the fifth shot (GE) the angle of view still hasn't changed...

whereas in the sixth shot (Maps) the angle of view has shifted even further downwards.

In other words, as you zoom in with GE, the angle of view doesn't change no matter how close you get to the ground, but as you zoom in with Maps, at a certain distance from the ground the angle of view automatically starts to tilt downward until, very close to the ground, the view is almost vertically downward, and the 3D effect is virtually lost.

Is there any way to keep a set angle of view/tilt constant as you zoom in, or in a different situation, tilt the view upwards when you first start looking around close to ground level?

I hope I've been able to explain this clearly. If not, please let me know.

Cheers!

Chris

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Answer 3

chris_g1

Community Specialist

Jul 25, 2019 7:10 AM in response to onemac

onemac,

Thanks for the additional details.

The only way to do the tilting is by the method described in the link.

If there are other features you'd like to see in Maps, you can provide feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

Have a great day.

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Answer 4

onemac Author

Level 1

18 points

Jul 25, 2019 9:00 PM in response to chris_g1

Hi Chris_g1,

Thanks for the info. I guess that's a built-in feature (flaw?) of Maps i.e. it can't maintain a certain angle of view when descending below a certain altitude (or to describe it in a different situation, if you're at the minimum altitude i.e. close to the ground, you can't get Maps to look sideways to any extent, and you're confined to looking pretty well straight downwards). I'll pass this on to Product Feedback and see what happens.

Cheers!

Chris

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How to increase the angle of tilt in 3d mode in Maps

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