Google Maps is an amazing tool. Besides the regular map, there are other modes you can enter such as Google Earth and Google Street view. In street view, you can look around in 360 degrees as if you were actually there. There's a pretty good chance you have discovered street view already. But in today's blog, I wanted to share the timeline option, which you may not be aware of!
Street view has all kinds of usefulness. You might be travelling to a new location and want to see it virtually first to become more familiar. Or, you may be taking a first glance at a home that is for sale before actually driving there. Perhaps this virtual preliminary look may save you the time of not having to go (or confirm that it is a good find and you should go!)
I work in NYC Architecture. The city streets here are very dynamic and street view has a lot more predicaments when we are scoping out different buildings. For instance, there can sometimes be scaffolding around the building blocking the view. Other times in Google Street View, there is often a delivery truck parked right in front of the building blocking the view. Today, I had a case where the tree right in front was not letting me get a good view of the actual building.
So I enabled the history/timeline feature! As I scoped out the different dates available, it helped me to find a better street view photo of the building.
It would be very easy to miss this timeline feature. Let me show you how to use it.
When you are in street view mode, notice in the upper left corner there is a box that shows when the street view was captured. If you click the clock icon, you'll get a pop up with a timeline.
Each dot on the timeline represents a different date with a street view capture. Depending on your area, you may have just a few dates. In NYC, we have about a dozen choices! I guess Google drives around here often!
As you slide through the different dates, you get a thumbnail preview that you can click on if you want to set that date in the current view.
The timeline view could be useful also in residential cases. When you are looking at houses, there could be things blocking your view. Also, perhaps the shot you are looking at is a dark and gloomy day and how much better it would be on a sunny day. Perhaps there are street view dates that allow you to change seasons. If it looks a little dreary in the winter, it would be better to see it in a more summer shot. Try the timeline and check it out!
is one of my favorite guys! Lynn
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