Google Earth

Explore the world from your phone

Google Earth lets you zoom from a view of the whole planet down to satellite imagery of a particular place. Tilt the map to see terrain and buildings in 3D, or use Street View for a ground-level look at selected streets and locations. It suits curious travellers planning a visit, students studying geography, and anyone who likes exploring places from home.

Rather than focusing on turn-by-turn directions, the app is built around looking around. You can rotate and tilt the globe, inspect coastlines and landscapes, and get a sense of how a neighbourhood or landmark sits in its surroundings. Street View adds another perspective where coverage is available. Curated Voyager content offers guided ways to discover places and topics around the world.

Good for browsing, not just planning

Use it to get a visual feel for a destination before a trip, revisit a place you know, or follow a trail of curiosity across the map. The mix of satellite views, 3D terrain and ground-level imagery makes it more useful for visual exploration than a plain map. Detail and coverage vary by location, so some places will offer a richer view than others.

The layered imagery can take more work to load and display than a simple map, especially when viewing detailed areas. On a smaller screen, exploring is straightforward, but inspecting a location closely can involve plenty of zooming and moving around. It is best suited to unhurried browsing rather than quick directions.

At a glance

Google Earth is published by Google LLC and is listed in Travel & Local. It has a 3.8-star rating from about 2.97 million ratings and more than 500 million installs. Those numbers point to a widely used app, while the rating suggests experiences vary. If you enjoy learning a place by looking at it, this is a practical way to explore far beyond your immediate surroundings.