Hidden Apple Maps Feature In iOS 8 Beta Gives 'City Tour'

Apple Maps has been, well, laughable. A launch debacle gave way to Apple relenting, going back to Google Maps while they worked their bugs out. A new feature in Apple Maps might have some wanting to give the service another shot, though.

A video flyover mode called City Tours, hidden in an iOS 8 debug, shows Apple Maps swooping in and out of cities, highlighting various points of interest. The feature is pretty deeply hidden, and we wills ay the menu you see is definitely not going to be the one you see in a final build. It's also limited to cities like Rome, Barcelona, and New York right now.

The animation is smooth, and the flyover hovers over several landmarks in each city. The feature was one Apple slipped by everyone at WWDC as they rifled through a laundry list of amazing features for all their platforms. We're likely to hear more about this at the time they officially launch the OS to the public along with the iPhone 6 — or iPhone 6 lineup, maybe.

The detail is pretty rich on these City Tours, and we're likely to get more destinations before launch. We'd like to think a service like this means Apple has comfortably solved other Apple Maps woes, but that's not yet known. For now, enjoy the video!