Google will launch a new Street View app in August that will make it easier for users to upload their own photo spheres to Google Maps. The new app will display photo spheres from Googlers and other contributors along with submissions of the user to create a unified Street View gallery. The Android and iOS versions of the app will feature a Photo Sphere camera mode to let users easily click photo spheres. The highlight of the app, however, will be its ability to connect to spherical cameras. At launch, the app will support two such cameras: NCTech iris 360 and the Giroptic 360cam. In addition, Google will be rebranding its certified photographer Google Maps Business View program to “Street View | Trusted” from mid-August. It will also be relaxing the rules for entry to make it easier for more users to enroll into the program and publish their high quality images and photo spheres to Google Maps. The full changes that are coming in mid-August as explained by Google are as follows: Google is making these changes to streamline its pro photographer tools with its renowned Street View brand. By making it easier for users to upload photo spheres to Street View and Google Maps, Google has a chance to further expand its Street View feature by leveraging the power of its community. Street View | Trusted In addition to the upcoming app, we’re also preparing a set of changes to our sister platform, Google Maps Business View. In mid–August, this certified photographer program will be rebranded as “Street View | Trusted.” It will remain focused on supporting pro photographers who publish photo spheres to Google Maps, but at that time — and in direct response to your feedback — the program will shed many of its stringent requirements in favor of far more accommodating policies. In short, enrollment will be easier, publishing requirements will be simpler, and we’ll improve publishing and editing reliability. High quality imagery will remain a key requirement and distinction for those in the program. Google Maps Your Views profile will have a new look and feel, and be transferred over to Google Maps when Views goes offline in mid–August. At that time, we’ll enable photo sphere uploads directly from the Google Maps website. And later in the year, Google Maps will re-introduce the lost support for creating connections between photo spheres (“constellations”) with a new, more automated solution.
