Google Maps now zooms out to a globe instead of a flat Earth
Google is finished thinking two-dimensionally with Maps and now shows the Earth as a globe rather than a flat "Mercator" projection as before. You won't notice the change when you first open the app, but if you zoom out far enough, you'll eventually get a moon's-eye view of our world. That means you'll see the world in a more realistic way: "With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland's projection is no longer the size of Africa," Google Maps said on Twitter.
Also at TechCrunch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @06:22PM (4 children)
Thought it showed a globe for a long time? I must have been part of some test.
If you zoom out enough it will show current cloud cover too. It is kinda cool.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @10:46PM (1 child)
You're probably thinking of Google Earth, which is/was a similar but different thing with more of a focus on 3D. That represented the earth as a sphere when you zoomed out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:33PM
google earth != maps.google.com
It has been a globe for awhile if I zoomed out hence my comment about the weather too. I did have GE on my phone a few years back and it did the same thing I uninstalled it when maps.google.com started doing the same thing. Maybe the android app? Never tried zooming out on that one.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Sunday August 05 2018, @03:58AM (1 child)
Funny enough, Google maps app still shows flat earth and Greenland the size of Africa.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 05 2018, @09:02AM
I see the same. www.google.com/maps/ and maps.google.com/ on both Win7 laptop and Android phone. Nothing appears different than what I have seen over the past year or so.