Technology
Google Earth comes to Firefox and Edge but not Safari (yet)
Google Earth is one of the nicest experiences you can have in a web browser, and yet it only worked in Google Chrome — until now.
On Wednesday, Google announced that Earth now works in Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers. The change comes after a six-month beta period, and has been made possible by moving Google Earth onto WebAssembly, a standard for executable programs on the web.
Google originally built Earth using a Chrome-only solution called Native Client. But the company has since started supporting the WebAssembly standard, so switching one of its popular web apps to the new standard made sense. Google ended support for Native Client in late 2019, saying that “the vibrant ecosystem around WebAssembly makes it a better fit for new and existing high-performance web apps.”
Google says it has more work to do in “polishing the experience” across these browsers. Furthermore, Apple’s Safari still isn’t supported, though Google says it’s working on it.
“We’re continuing to work on supporting as many browsers as possible, and we’ll keep you posted on any new developments,” the company said in a blog post.
I’ve briefly tried out Google Earth in Opera, and the experience was the same as in Chrome, perhaps a tad slower. On top, you will get a notice that you’re running an “experimental” version of Earth. Visiting the Google Earth site in Safari will merely result in a message that the app isn’t supported yet.
Google Earth’s switch to WebAssembly is significant. Although Chrome is by far the most popular desktop browser out there, with a 67.73 percent market share according to Netmarketshare, Firefox and Edge have a significant 8.83 percent and 5.77 percent, respectively. Safari and Opera are far behind with a 3.6 percent and 1.48 respective market share.
-
Business6 days ago
Langdock raises $3M with General Catalyst to help businesses avoid vendor lock-in with LLMs
-
Entertainment6 days ago
What Robert Durst did: Everything to know ahead of ‘The Jinx: Part 2’
-
Entertainment6 days ago
This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.
-
Business5 days ago
India’s election overshadowed by the rise of online misinformation
-
Business5 days ago
This camera trades pictures for AI poetry
-
Business6 days ago
CesiumAstro claims former exec spilled trade secrets to upstart competitor AnySignal
-
Business4 days ago
TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK
-
Business7 days ago
Internet users are getting younger; now the UK is weighing up if AI can help protect them