

Google Earth API has been deprecated - nclaburn
https://developers.google.com/earth/

======
untog
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](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.

~~~
ErikRogneby
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.

~~~
acdha
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...](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8143794,-140.0068556,4793697a,20y,350.97h,21.12t/data=!3m1!1e3)

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nclaburn
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/](http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/java/)
Cesium - [http://cesiumjs.org/](http://cesiumjs.org/)

~~~
acemarke
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).

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

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IvyMike
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.

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

~~~
RoseO
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/](https://www.google.com/intx/en_uk/work/mapsearth/customers/)

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whizzkid
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?

~~~
acemarke
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).

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kpgraham
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](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.

~~~
alokm
Getting a 403 on your site.

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jkovacs
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/](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. :-(

~~~
donatj
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.

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

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nomercy400
I think the main question is: Will there be an alternative?

~~~
sjg
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...](http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/announcing-
deprecation-of-google-earth.html)

"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."

