- Google discontinues the desktop version of Google Earth Pro
- The web and mobile versions of the app will continue to be available
- You have until June 25, 2027 to download the desktop version
When it comes to abandoning and discontinuing its own products, Google doesn’t have a very stellar record. So many projects have been kicked off by the tech giant that there is even a Killed by Google website that collects all over 300 of them.
Now we can add Google Earth Pro to the list – and the announcement has caused consternation among Google fans.
An official post on the Google Earth support forums stated that “While you can continue to use the old Google Earth Pro desktop app, it will no longer be available for new downloads starting June 25, 2027.” Users are pointed to the mobile and web versions of the app “for the best Google Earth experience.”
Assuming you’ve downloaded it, you’ll be able to continue using the desktop version of Google Earth Pro after June 25. To bring your saved locations and projects from the desktop app to the web or mobile, follow Google’s instructions.
Google didn’t say exactly why it discontinued Google Earth Pro on computers, only that “We’re continuing to make Google Earth on the web and mobile the best place for people to get useful geospatial insights.” But there is no doubt that the decision to add another product to Google’s graveyard will not go down well with many users.
Going, going, away
As you might expect, social media has seen dozens of Google users complaining about the move. During Google’s forum post, for example, an anonymous user said: “Google Earth web is functionally useless for any kind of serious project. The maximum number of 250,000 vertices is ridiculous. It severely limits the amount of existing datasets I use on the desktop version.” [user interface] is intrusive and clutters the map, forcing the user to constantly move around and zoom in and out to see anything significant.”
That sentiment was echoed by sdot-p on Reddit, who lamented that “the impact to thousands of companies across industries will be huge. Earth Pro is embedded in workflows at a scale that can’t be changed without ridiculous amounts of effort. And even then, the company will probably be in a worse position than before. You’re talking about the impact to contractors, utilities, etc.”
Other users were more prosaic. “They accidentally created something that created too much value that they couldn’t monetize,” MTGuy406 said on Reddit, reflecting a long-standing sentiment that Google is quick to abandon projects that don’t have enough impact on the bottom line, no matter how beloved they may be.
I also have a soft spot for Google Earth Pro, having used it years ago to download North Korea Uncovered, a Google Earth project that aimed to map and label almost every building and location of interest in the secretive state. Whether it will work anywhere near as well on the web is not clear, given the user interface and experience criticism of the non-desktop version of Google Earth.
If you’ve been tempted to download Google Earth Pro to your desktop but haven’t gotten around to doing so, now is the time to take action. You’ll find the download on Google’s website – make sure you grab it before it’s too late.
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