Google Maps Street View is one of the most useful features for users visiting new places. And now, Google is making it easier for users to capture street view data using just their phones via Driving Mode.
This means that users would not need to have those expensive 360-degree cameras in order to capture the Street View data. This would dramatically take the Google Street View features to the next level as more data would be available.
The new feature is called Driving Mode, and it is showing up in the side menu for several users of the Street View app. This means that the update is arriving as a server-side update.
Having a more enhanced street-level look at the destinations of preference is something that user love about Google Street View. Apparently, this new ability to capture more data with just a phone is something brilliant.
Besides, it seems like Google is taking the crowdsourcing route to gather and expand the abilities of the Google Street View app and better fill out the map.
Notably, one of the users has shared this piece of information on Reddit. The post consists of a video that shows that users can upload the images captured from smartphones.
Google Street View Driving Mode when enabled, prompts users to capture their location
The new Google Street View, which is showing up for several users when enabled shows a prompt to the users to capture their nearby location with their smartphone camera.
The video shared by the user also shows one important thing. It is that data gathered by the users may be going under manual reviews. In fact, the user was able to see the contribution on his profile but not on Google Maps yet.
Users would need to capture their location using the recording button. Previously, capturing the Street View was done by Google via their own Street View Cars and Trekkers.
But now, users can also contribute to Street View via this Driving Mode. This Driving Mode would lead to the expansion of the Street View, making it useful and functional in places that are not recognizable or popular.
For instance, remote areas, rural areas, villages, etc. could also now be a part of Street View. It may even have the ability to automatically blur out faces and license plates if captured via the users.
It is, however, unclear how the company plans on rolling out this feature widely. As only a limited set of users have received this feature on their phone.