As many people with an iOS device noticed when they upgraded to iOS 6, their Google Maps app had vanished into the ether, replaced with a map app that even Apple admits maybe isn’t that great right now. For people who still wanted to use Google Maps, they could still view them via a web browser, and now Google has turned on Street View.

To get it working, you need to either search for a specific address or click on the name of a place listed on the Google map. This will bring up the Street View icon — a little silhouette of a man — in the bottom right corner of the screen. Clicking on the icon brings up the Street View images.

The Houston Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman says he’s confirmed that Street View is available through both Safari and Chrome, but we could only get it to work properly in the latter; we have the little “Street View” icon on the screen, but he is greyed out and does nothing when clicked.

The Google Maps app was a casualty of the ongoing battle for smartphone customers between Apple and the makers of smartphones that use Google’s Android operating system.

The iOS 6 upgrade also jettisoned the app for Google’s YouTube service, an app that had originally helped push the iPhone to the front of the smartphone class. Google has subsequently released a YouTube app of its own, but the user reviews have been less than glowing, with many users complaining that it lacks features of the original app.

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