Google Street View’s “time travel” feature is being added to smartphones - allowing users to look back at historical photos of locations on their mobile phones for the first time ever.
For example, users can look up a landmark or the street they live on, and find images of the same street or landmark - dating back to when Google Maps' launched in 2007.
Google is a tech company which continues to grow from strength to strength.
What started as a simple search engine in 1996, has evolved into Earth's technological backbone.
According to Search Engine Journal, it is the most used search engine in the entire world.
But the site offers far more than answers to questions.
Street View is the tech giant’s 360-degree photo-based map of the world with images captured from cameras mounted onto vehicles and even backpacks and can be found within Google Maps.
Until now, only users on the desktop version of Street View could access any available historical images of a location.
But this feature is now being extended to iOS and Android smartphones.
The announcement comes as the Street View feature marks its 15th birthday.
”Ethan Russell, senior director of product management for Google Maps, said:“Street View is all about capturing the world as it changes, and it’s also a powerful way to reminisce about the past.
“Starting today on Android and iOS globally, it’s now easier than ever to travel back in time right from your phone."
How it works
According to Russell, using Google's new time travel feature is quite straight forward.
“Here’s how it works: When you’re viewing Street View imagery of a place, tap anywhere on the photo to see information about the location," Russell said.
He continued: “Then tap ‘See more dates’ to see the historical imagery we’ve published of that place, dating back to when Street View launched in 2007.
“Browse each of the images to see a digital time capsule that shows how a place has changed.”
As part of the birthday celebrations, Google also revealed the most searched for locations on Street View in the UK, with Big Ben topping the list ahead of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium and Buckingham Palace.
Stonehenge and the British Museum completed the top five, with London Bridge, the Folkestone White Horse, the London Eye, the University of Oxford and Wembley stadium also making the top ten.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
