Street View has been with us since 2007 , appropriate us to spy on our old neighborhoods , see our front threshold on the cyberspace , and in the main go the globe without get up from the sofa . This ever - expanding digital library of position has more uses than you might realize — and here we ’ve listed some of our favorites .
1) Check out tricky intersections
This is one we do all the clock time — break out the layout of tricky city intersection before a road head trip , to be certain we know where we ’re go . Even with the in force chromosome mapping technology on your phone , it can be all too loose to get turn a loss driving across multiple lanes and multiple intersection point when you ’re in a unknown city , and even more so abroad . Check out the carrefour on Street View first , and you at least experience what ’s coming your way .
2) Travel through walks ahead of time
Speaking of check out journeys ahead of clip , the walking directions you get from today ’s mapping apps are n’t always reflective of the pathways and trails that are actually on the ground . Okay , so you ’re not going to walk the intact route in Street View — you may as well continue at home if you ’re doing that — but you may habituate it to stag out some go and key full point along the way , to minimize the risk of you getting lost while you ’re outdoors .
3) Find out if there’s parking
You ’re head to a restaurant , a bar , or anywhere else , and you demand to work out if there ’ll be anywhere to park : Google Maps and Apple Maps can assist with this up to a decimal point , and you’re able to plausibly get data on the venue website as well , but a quick sojourn to Street View can give you a safe idea whether or not you ’re going to be spend a long time look for parking ( and if there is a parking passel , you’re able to check where the entrance is ) .
4) Decide if you want to move to a neighborhood
If you ’ve ever had to relocate , then you ’ve probably thought of this one already — using Street View to run reconnaissance mission on area that you ’re thinking about moving to . Sure , it ’s not as helpful as really visit the place yourself , but Street View will show you the body politic of the vicinity : How many unripe spaces there are , what form of eat and imbibition establishments are around , how engaged the traffic can get , and other bits of selective information .
5) Figure out if you really do want to try somewhere new
Reviews of piazza can sure as shooting give you an idea of what to anticipate , but you ca n’t always confide the public at bombastic — visiting a bar , or a eatery , or a park forwards of time on Street View gives you more information to sour with when you ’re deciding whether or not to bring down . you may see how well - presented the venue is , what ’s located either side , the kind of neighborhood it ’s in , and so on ( some places give you a 360 - degree view inside , too ) .
6) Find the best viewing points
Here ’s another we ’ve got personal experience of : Knowing when to stop to take exposure on a route trip through striking landscape . You do n’t need to miss the just vistas and picture - taking point just because your eyes were on the road or buried in a mapping . If you want to know where to get the best persuasion of , say , Yosemite National Park or Sydney Harbour Bridge , then Street View can assist you find out before you ’ve leave alone the theatre .
7) Do a trial run for a job interview
You ’ve got enough to worry about when you ’re at a job consultation , so ensure you have intercourse where you ’re going and which building you need to be at ( and which entrance to habituate ): Not all of this information is available on the web . Street View can tell you if you ’re deal out with a gate or multi - story property , or if you need to depart excess clock time to find a clientele in the thick of many others , or if the location is easy to get to .
8) Explore the wonders of the world
You might not be mindful just how manydifferent sights and landmarksGoogle Street View now extend . Of naturally , it ’s not the same as going there , but you’re able to still wonder at instinctive or architectural curiosity from your phone or laptop computer concealment : find out out the position from Mont Blanc , the bottom of the Grand Canyon , the inside of the International Space Station , the street of Disney World , the Australian Gold Coast , and many , many more interesting muscae volitantes .
9) Entertain your friends
The next sentence you get hold yourself stuck for something to do , dilute up a random Street View effigy on your sound or laptop and see if your friend can guess which country it ’s from ; or take somewhere in your own country and see if they can name the urban center or state . In fact , there ’s a website that does this for you and that you may test your own geographical knowledge with — load upGeoGuessrand see if you may guess where in the reality you are .
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Image: Google

Screenshot: Gizmodo

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