Google Earth to introduce 'Time Machine' feature to take users back in past

Google Earth desktop program version, also known as Google Earth Pro, will likely introduce a full version of the ‘time machine’ feature that will allow the users to recede several years back in the historic past and check out the old satellite imagery. This feature will also be introduced for the  Android version of the app, according to a report by XDA. At present Google Earth allows this feature on the apps by activating the ‘experimental preference’.

The feature will be an enhanced version of the current ‘time travelling time lapse’ which lets users explore imagery in the past, but is restricted to 1984. With a time machine option, Google Earth will be able to transport the users quickly across many years to observe any internationally renowned event in history on the maps. On Androids, however, to access this feature, one has to edit the feature flags to enable this hidden option. 

A developer, known as Kyler, took to his official Twitter handle to share some of the screenshots as well as a short video of the Google Earth’s time machine feature on his smartphone. In the footage, one can see the aerial view of US’ San Francisco as it looked in 1938. In the caption, Kyler wrote that he enabled experimental settings in order to use the time machine feature by Google Earth on his phone. Kyler was able to tap into some historical mapping data for landmark places on Earth several years ago. 

Might expect some limitations

One could, unlike the time-lapse, go back to more than 80 years or so or even further to view what the countries looked like in historic times. However, users might expect some limitations when pulling mapping from thousands of years ago due to the timeline of the evolution of photography, and the fact that drone imagery was started much later. However, Google Earth’s Time Machine feature will effectively transport the viewer in the past and flash images to compare the development of the world, so far. Google has old images of the places stored on the depository of its servers, which it currently uses for the time-lapse feature.