Google Earth API has been deprecated

#1

Post by nclaburn » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 2:26 PM UTC

Google Earth API has been deprecated
developers.google.com

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#2

Post by whizzkid » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 2:42 PM UTC

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?

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#3

Post by jkovacs » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 2:43 PM UTC

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. :-(

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#4

Post by donatj » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 2:54 PM UTC

jkovacs wrote: post #3

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.

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#5

Post by julianpye » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 2:54 PM UTC

whizzkid wrote: post #2

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?

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.

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#6

Post by ultramancool » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 3:07 PM UTC

donatj wrote: post #4

jkovacs wrote: post #3

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.

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#7

Post by nclaburn » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 3:09 PM UTC

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/

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#8

Post by acemarke » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 3:19 PM UTC

whizzkid wrote: post #2

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).

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#9

Post by nomercy400 » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 3:23 PM UTC

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

Re: Google Earth API has been deprecated

#10

Post by Demiurge » Tue, Dec 16, 2014, 3:25 PM UTC

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.