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Street View made a launch over a decade ago, and this wide image database is currently the power house of the Live View AR feature. An update to Google Maps for Android has improved the Street View experience by the addition of a split screen mode.

The latest split view UI launches automatically when you open Street View after you have dropped a map pin. Meanwhile, if you want to access the Street View directly from a location’s listing, it will be the regular fullscreen interface. In cases like this, you’ll notice a “minimize” button located in the bottom-right corner.

The map below has paths that features the street-level imagery highlighted in blue color, and Photo Spheres that is taken by users are surfaced as just dots. You can simply tap anywhere to quickly jump, while the circular marker has features of an arrow that shows the direction being pointed at.

This method of navigation is immensely more convenient than getting around in Street View with arrows and dragging.

With the Google Maps on your desktop computer, you can easily look at Street View and also the top-down map simultaneously. But do you know that you can also do this on your Android phone, too?

This is a very simple feature, but it’s one that isn’t so super clear when you’re making use of Google Maps on your Android device. If you have a large display, it’s very nice to be able to see the Street View and the map all side by side.

1. Open the Google Maps App

First, you open the Google Maps app that is on your Android phone or your tablet. Then you find a location on the map that you desire to see in Street View. You can then tap on a label or you long-press on a street to select the spot that you want.

2. Select a location

Next, you will notice an information about the location that will slide up from the bottom of the screen. Then you tap the Street View preview window on the left-hand side. (You will not see this if the Street View is unavailable for the location.)

3. Open street view

Street View will then open in fullscreen. In order to see the Street View and the top-down of the map, all you need to do is just to tap the dual arrows icon that is in the bottom-right corner.

4. Tap the arrows icon

Street View will then shrink to the top half (or to the left side, that is if your phone is being held in the landscape mode) of the screen, and the top-down map will now appear underneath. You can then tap on any of the blue streets to move there on the map in the Street View.

5. Street view split screen

To do this, You will simply tap the arrows icon again to expand the Street View to fullscreen again.

6. Street view full screen

Google Maps will give you a remembrance of your choice in the future, so if you are leaving it in the split-screen, that’s exactly how it will open the next time you want to use the Street View. It’s just a simple but handy little trick.