Google Earth API has been deprecated | Hacker News Reader

Google Earth API has been deprecated

developers.google.com

127 pointsnclaburn22 comments

Context from the Google Maps API G+ page:

"FYI that we’ve just announced deprecation of the Google Earth API due to Chrome and Firefox removing support for NPAPI plugins for security reasons. Per our deprecation policy, the API will continue to be supported and function for one year."

https://plus.google.com/+GoogleMapsAPI/posts/6TA4QGkDW48

A shame, but hopefully we can get Google Earth-like functionality in the Google Maps API, now that browser support for WebGL is widespread.

Zooming all the way out on maps.google.com does get you a planet view. It might be interesting to see how layers apply at that zoom level.

I hadn't noticed before but holding down the shift key at that zoom level gives you the same rotate and tilt controls which Google Earth offered:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8143794,-140.0068556,4793697...

Their WebGL globe is kind of nice for some purposes.

here's an example: http://wesawit.com/globe/

OP here: This news is dissapointing. I've been using the Google Earth API for years now and while it does feel "bolted on" it's gotten the job done. Sure the updates were slow, and bug fixes/enhancements few in the past couple of years, but it works well. I'm actively looking for an alternative. Here's a brief list of what I've found.

World Wind - http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/java/ Cesium - http://cesiumjs.org/

WorldWind is not going to be an option in the browser much longer either. Applet support requires the Java plugin, and that's also going to be affected by the push to deprecate the NPAPI (plus a lot of places have it disabled already due to the ongoing security concerns).

Cesium's excellent. Still missing some features compared to GE and WorldWind, but the core dev team has been cranking away on it consistently, they're very responsive to discussion, and I love being able to dive right down into the source to see how things work inside (as opposed to the giant binary black box that is GE).

I was one of the early users of it in 2009: http://hmap.unh.edu/atlas/

and it seemed they stopped developing it very shortly after it came out, as there were 'known bugs' with ugly hackarounds that never went away. The plug-in stopped installing for me on OSX about 2 years ago. A regretful technology choice.

Has there been any announcement about the Google Earth Windows client being deprecated? I think it's been over a year since there were any updates.

I'm guessing Google is putting all of their efforts into Maps, but it's a shame because I really like the Windows client version. I have spent hours just roaming around the planet using it.

Pretty sure that's hanging around for the foreseeable future. It's the browser plugin that's going away.

Google Earth Pro seemingly has a fair few customers at the moment so I would assume the free desktop version will stick around for a while.

https://www.google.com/intx/en_uk/work/mapsearth/customers/

I wonder what was the reason behind this.

Another thing I realised that I never had this API in any of my projects requirements, is there any important apps that use it other than information visualisation?

Per the article, the primary reason is that Firefox and Chrome are both trying to eliminate the use of browser plugins. Plugins are potential security problems, and can also affect browser behavior (from reading Mozilla blogs, a very large percentage of UI hangs are caused by plugins).

I think it is clear that Google Maps is taking over the role of Google Earth. There has also been a recent Maps API refresh with Play Services 6.5, that greatly simplifies Google Maps on mobile.

I did most of the Earth API work for an educational application called StrataLogica:

http://www.stratalogica.com/

This marketing video of theirs has some examples of the stuff we did with the Earth API:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl2HWhPEpIU

One very frustrating thing was that several of the interactive tools I built duplicated features that were available in the Earth desktop client but won't exposed through the API: line drawing, image placement, etc.

But it was clear even back then in 2009-2010 that the Earth API wasn't getting much attention within Google - rare updates with few new features added - it felt very much like somebody's 20% project. So we didn't wait for Google to add those features but built them from scratch.

Probably WebGL. Google Earth was only ever a separate plugin because the browser itself could never render 3D views like that with any speed. Now that we have WebGL, in theory this stuff is possible without a plugin - something that is to be applauded, IMO.

I have been using the Google Sky version of the API for many years now at my star finder astronomy site (eg. http://www.starsfree.com/view/91.025/-24.3/M8 ). I don't know of an alternative. There is a Moon version and a Mars version, too. I don't know if the images for Sky, Moon and Mars are available to create an alternative, but if they were, I would be up to cobbling together a program to replace these.

Getting a 403 on your site.

Understandable that they don't want to keep maintaining this as a browser plugin, but it's a shame anyway. I wonder what will happen to the Google Earth Flight Simulator (http://www.gefs-online.com/), which has been one of my favorite time wasters the last couple of months. Their blog does not seem to have an announcement regarding their future. I hope they are aware of this. :-(

One would think they'd rather have it as a browser thing than a desktop thing, this is Google we're talking about. Chromebook and what not. I really wonder if this is a sign that Google earth itself is next.

I hope not. No live GPS/"moving map" with Google Maps on a laptop.

I think the main question is: Will there be an alternative?

I presume that there maybe something to replace it in the future but its anyones guess.

From http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/announcing...

"Google Earth has a proud legacy, which continues with the new Google Earth for Android, powered by a brand new renderer. 3D is in our blood, and while we can’t announce anything just now, we look forward to sharing more exciting product news in the future."

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