{"slug": "google-earth", "name": "Google Earth", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 3.407, "rising": 1.67, "first": "2026-02-09", "latest": "2026-09-25", "why": "no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://earth.google.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Google Earth"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 794218737, "item_id": 49638671, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49638671", "by": "snowwrestler", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "switched to having a globe as its base, like Google Earth. It was great.", "excerpt": "Yes. Specially, touch enabled screens with dynamically rendered graphics. The Google Maps app on my iPhone at one point years ago switched to having a globe as its base, like Google Earth. It was great. Then Google switched it back to Mercator. But you can scroll infinitely to the left or right, so its base is actually now \u201cMercator rolled into a tube.\u201d Somehow that\u2019s even worse!", "context": "", "use_case": "globe view of the world", "switched_from": "", "story": "The UN challenges five centuries of cartography"}, {"id": 790471168, "item_id": 49404448, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404448", "by": "afterglowreader", "date": "2026-08-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Google Earth and SpaceEngine", "excerpt": "I love Google Earth and SpaceEngine, but I\u2019ve always wanted an Earth viewer that looked more like what you\u2019d actually see with your own eyes. That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do with Optical Earth. It has full HDR support, so the Earth can actually look bright against the black of space instead of everything being flattened to the same brightness. I\u2019m still working on some things like auroras, but it\u2019s far enough along that", "context": "", "use_case": "Earth viewer", "switched_from": "", "story": "Optical Earth \u2013 Earth as the human eye would see it"}, {"id": 783033152, "item_id": 48939572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939572", "by": "4ff618", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files", "excerpt": "The biggest problem I have with this is that no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files for share with other people. I use it a lot in my work to track routes to rural locations, POIs, and calculate areas. Additionally, all of these important features work offline using cached maps. While QGIS is incredible and powerful, it is too com", "context": "tracks routes to rural locations for work", "use_case": "GPS tracks, routes, and area calculation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Earth Desktop Client to Be Retired in 2027"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "4ff618", "context": "tracks routes to rural locations for work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939572", "date": "2026-07-16"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["previewing travel destinations in vr", "globe view of the world", "earth viewer", "gps tracks, routes, and area calculation", "visualizing line of sight"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49805344", "title": "My weird new hobby: Wandering around Tokyo on Google Maps", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49629209", "title": "The UN challenges five centuries of cartography", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404447", "title": "Optical Earth \u2013 Earth as the human eye would see it", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48936110", "title": "Google Earth Desktop Client to Be Retired in 2027", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46943568", "title": "Show HN: Algorithmically Finding the Longest Line of Sight on Earth", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797432800, "item_id": 49839550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49839550", "by": "repple", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sometimes I use a VR headset with Google Earth to get a good feel for the area I will visit.", "excerpt": "Sometimes I use a VR headset with Google Earth to get a good feel for the area I will visit. Can cover a lot of ground flying around the city this way. When I get there in person I\u2019m basically a local.", "context": "", "use_case": "previewing travel destinations in VR", "switched_from": "", "story": "My weird new hobby: Wandering around Tokyo on Google Maps"}, {"id": 794218737, "item_id": 49638671, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49638671", "by": "snowwrestler", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "switched to having a globe as its base, like Google Earth. It was great.", "excerpt": "Yes. Specially, touch enabled screens with dynamically rendered graphics. The Google Maps app on my iPhone at one point years ago switched to having a globe as its base, like Google Earth. It was great. Then Google switched it back to Mercator. But you can scroll infinitely to the left or right, so its base is actually now \u201cMercator rolled into a tube.\u201d Somehow that\u2019s even worse!", "context": "", "use_case": "globe view of the world", "switched_from": "", "story": "The UN challenges five centuries of cartography"}, {"id": 790471168, "item_id": 49404448, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49404448", "by": "afterglowreader", "date": "2026-08-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Google Earth and SpaceEngine", "excerpt": "I love Google Earth and SpaceEngine, but I\u2019ve always wanted an Earth viewer that looked more like what you\u2019d actually see with your own eyes. That\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do with Optical Earth. It has full HDR support, so the Earth can actually look bright against the black of space instead of everything being flattened to the same brightness. I\u2019m still working on some things like auroras, but it\u2019s far enough along that", "context": "", "use_case": "Earth viewer", "switched_from": "", "story": "Optical Earth \u2013 Earth as the human eye would see it"}, {"id": 783033152, "item_id": 48939572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939572", "by": "4ff618", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files", "excerpt": "The biggest problem I have with this is that no other software exists with such easy-to-use tools for importing GPS tracks, creating custom points, and exporting KMZ files for share with other people. I use it a lot in my work to track routes to rural locations, POIs, and calculate areas. Additionally, all of these important features work offline using cached maps. While QGIS is incredible and powerful, it is too com", "context": "tracks routes to rural locations for work", "use_case": "GPS tracks, routes, and area calculation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Earth Desktop Client to Be Retired in 2027"}, {"id": 751137408, "item_id": 46946088, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46946088", "by": "crazygringo", "date": "2026-02-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used Google Earth to show the two points.", "excerpt": "This is so clever and interesting. Congratulations! But... I want to see a photo! Or at least what it looks like in Google Earth, with a red arrow marking the furthest point. It feels like the site is setting you up for the big suspense of the longest line of sight... and then it's just a line on a 2D map. I think it would also really help if the maps themselves were at an angle in 3D with an exaggerated relief, with", "context": "", "use_case": "visualizing line of sight", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Algorithmically Finding the Longest Line of Sight on Earth"}]}