Exploring the world without traveling is usually difficult. How good that there are now a whole range of digital helpers for getting to know the globe better from home. One of the older services that makes this possible is Google Earth. It has been used to view high-quality satellite images and aerial photographs of locations around the world since 2001. From June 2027, however, the option to do this with a desktop app will no longer be available, as the company announced in the Google Earth Community a few days ago. In the future only in the browser and mobile apps
In the future, Google Earth would like to fully focus on use in the browser and in the apps for iOS and Android, according to the announcement. However, there is a generous transition period for all current users of the desktop application – as well as everyone who wants to become one: the download is still available until June 25, 2027 and even after that it doesn’t end immediately. Existing installations can still be used. The transition phase is long – there is still almost a year left for the change. It is not yet known what will happen next with regard to future security updates for existing installations.
Mobile apps and browsers are getting more functions
Immediately after the announcement, fans of Google Earth asked themselves what would happen to functions that were not previously available for all platforms. The Google team responded by confirming that it wanted to implement user requests. In this context, some features such as the flight simulator were recently added to the web version. Further functional expansions are being planned. Users are also invited to leave feedback and actively shape the further development of the service. Google did not give reasons for the change. On the positive side, it can at least be said that Google Earth will not disappear completely in the future and the service will continue to be available.
