Google Maps now shows you a globe anytime you zoom out of the map

Suck on this flat-earthers: The next time you’re on Google Maps, and you zoom out of a map, you will now see a globe instead of a flat earth. Sorry, Kyrie Irving.

While this isn’t immediately available on Maps for iOS or Android, I was able to try it out via my desktop, and man, it’s really cool. It also feels more natural.

“With 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop, Greenland’s projection is no longer the size of Africa,” Google Maps wrote on Twitter yesterday.

https://twitter.com/googlemaps/status/1025130620471656449

Engadget notes,

Google’s referring to the fact that it’s impossible to represent the true area of different regions on the planet using flat projections. The most commonly used Mercator projections shows the correct shape of countries, but enlarges regions that are farther from the equator. As such, Greenland looks the size of Africa, when it’s much, much smaller — a mere 836,300 square miles compared to Africa’s 11.73 million square miles. That’s pretty clear on Google Maps now when you spin from one place to the other.

For now, the new “Globe Mode” is only available on desktop and not through its apps. However, it does work on all browsers, which includes Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox.

Flat-earthers, do you still think the world is flat? Let us know your ridiculous thoughts down below. 

For more Maps news, check out: 

• A new update to Google Maps will let you know when your friend’s phone is dying
• GMaps on iOS wants to make sure your next restaurant choice is a perfect match
• It looks like Google Maps is getting incident reporting, just like Waze

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.