Google finally relaunched the new and improved Google Earth this Tuesday, and it’s looking better than ever. Needless to say, this version is no longer the old, glitchy and boring Google Earth that you’d find ten years ago on your school library’s computers, but rather a very fast and modern version of the famous spinning globe. Here are five Google Earth hacks everyone needs to know with the occasion of this relaunch.
- Bird’s Eye View
Bird’s Eye View is nothing new, but now you can turn it on by just pressing the U key on your keyboard. On top of that, pressing R turns on the north top-view, as well as the top-down view so you can enjoy both and see how something looks from all possible angles.
- Save locations
If you browse Google Earth enough, you will definitely find new favorite locations to visit. And you can save them all in one handy list. However, currently, you can only save places that have knowledge cards.
- Fly with Voyage Mode
Press the blue paper plane icon when you’re in Voyage Mode and you can fly around that location and see it as if you were on a plane. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
- Find Easter eggs
Like any self-respecting program, Google Earth has a lot of Easter eggs hidden within it. Because most of the Voyages on it are sponsored, you can also find cool hidden bits and bobs that will spice up your virtual journey.
- Change the map
When visiting the map of a certain location, you can switch between the 2D and 3D view of it by just pressing O on your keyboard. And if you hit it more than once, you can fly around your chosen location.