Google Maps users discover ‘heartbreaking’ forgotten feature to see family homes & lost loved ones after TikTok trend
PEOPLE have discovered a way to go back in time and see lost loved ones on Google Maps Street View after a viral trend on TikTok.
Users have shared touching moments on the video sharing app, from finding their grandparents innocently gardening long before they passed away, to visiting childhood homes back when they used to live there.
The forgotten feature allows users to switch the images on Street View to older ones in the Google archive.
Google routinely updates the tool with newer snaps so people have up-to-date information.
But you can go back as far as 2007 to the company’s first batch of Street View images, depending on whether your road was filmed.
“Screaming, crying, throwing up. This trend is killing me,” one TikTok user wrote after finding her grandparents outside their house on there.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up when I first saw this streetview,” another wrote on discovering her mum’s car parked on the driveway and her dad’s garden shed still in tact way back.
“Somewhere on google maps it’s May 2013 and my dad is alive still waving at every car that passes by.. even the google street view car,” a third wrote.
“It’s a sunny day, life is good and forever is frozen in time.”
If you fancy a nostalgia trip, you can try out your street using the instructions below.
How to go back in time on Google Maps Street View
You can go back in time on Google Maps Street View on a desktop, or via the Google Maps app on iOS and Android.
Be warned, not every address will be available, given that Google has spent years driving around millions of roads across the world to make Street View.
In the very early years when it started, 2007, only selected roads were available in big cities.
But for the most part, you should be able to hop back at least ten years or so.
To have a look, start by opening Google Maps.
Search the address as normal.
Activate Street View by dragging the little yellow man in the bottom right corner from a desktop.
On mobile, select the image preview in the bottom left corner.
Next, look for the link that reads “See more dates” – in desktop it’s in the black box at the top of your screen and on mobile it’s along the bottom.
If there are older street view shots available, you will see a selection and can slide along to go back however many years.
Sometimes on mobile you might have to navigate around a bit with Street View before the message appears.
Google Maps bonus tricks
You can use augmented reality (AR) to explore the streets on Google Maps too.
When looking up directions, users can select an augmented reality (AR) version of Live View.
This means the app that not only gives you directions, but scans the surrounding area to offer users more details about the places they pass.
This feature even highlights ATMs, and other pitstops in real time.
Image credit: Getty