Google Earth gets the Street View feature that effectively drives users away.
The tech giant announced this week that it will bring images to Google Earth with historic street views, which allows people to look back at photos of the world from the past. This is a welcome update for Google Earth’s 20th anniversary, which was previously only used on Google Maps. Google has also added a tool that allows users to view historical satellite images.
“Today, we celebrate this milestone birthday by bringing historical street images to Google Earth,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Now you can explore the wonders of the planet from more perspectives, whether it’s the bird’s vision or on the street.”
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Historical street scenes are one of the truly cool tools on the internet. We’ve introduced the feature several times over the years in Mashable. For example, late last year, Tiktokkers used the feature to create a wonderful, sensual trend of visiting long lost people and places.
The weird nostalgia of Google Street View
Actually, a few years ago, I introduced Street View and the weird nostalgia it can inspire. It’s a truly fun experience to parse through the past world and your life. You can now access the experience via Google Earth.
How to use Google Earth’s Historic Street View Tool
Step 2: Search for location
You can find the search bar at the top of the page.
Step 3: Click on the “Show Street” view
The icon in the lower right corner looks like a cartoon person.
Image source: Google Earth
Step 4: Click on a highlighted street.
Any bright blue line will bring you down to the street level.
Image source: Google Earth
Step 5: Click to see more dates.
Once you reach the street level, you have the option to see more dates. This will allow you to browse all the old images from the past few years and travel through time.
Image source: Google Earth
If you want to use the Historical Bird’s Eye View tool, all you need to do is click on the Historical Image button on Google Earth, which looks like a globe in the refresh button.
