This podcast was recorded way back on Jan. 23, 2009 (16 years ago) with the original Google Earth for iPhone developer team: my old friend (the late) Mike Morton, David Oster, and (product manager) Peter Burch along with Google spokesperson Aaron Stein. Although the iPhone was launched on June 29, 2007, the iPhone app store was not launched a year later on July 10, 2008. So, iPhone apps had only been available for 6 months when we recorded this podcast. I’m taking advantage of the relatively new Adobe Podcast (V2) audio enhancement and audiogram creation features to re-post this podcast as, I think, one of some historical interest. I also used Google Gemini to write a summary of the podcast as well as a more detailed bullet point discussion list for the blog on MobileViews.com.
SUMMARY
In this podcast recorded on Jan. 23, 2009, , the developers of Google Earth for iPhone discussed the creation and features of the mobile application. The team, including iPhone engineers Mike Morton and David Oster, shared insights into the development process. With extensive Macintosh experience, they found the iPhone SDK surprisingly similar to OS X programming, which provided a significant advantage. A long-held dream for the Google Earth team was to enable users to “hold the earth in your hand,” a vision only recently made possible by technological advancements.
The developers addressed the challenge of optimizing Google Earth for the iPhone’s smaller screen and less powerful CPU. They emphasized streamlining the application by “trimming out some of the fat” accumulated in the desktop version and leveraging years of OpenGL tuning. A key focus was on creating a user-friendly interface that prioritized data display over decorative elements, influenced by Edward Tufte’s principles. The touch interface of the iPhone presented a unique opportunity to create a more intuitive way of interacting with the Earth, leading to the development of custom gesture analysis. Looking ahead, the team plans to continue developing Google Earth for iPhone, adding new features that cater to both existing desktop functionalities and mobile-specific contexts.
DETAILED DISCUSSION SUMMARY
- The Google Earth for iPhone development team included Mike Morton and David Oster (iPhone engineers), Peter Burch (product manager for Google Earth), and Aaron Stein (spokesman for Google).
- Mike Morton and David Oster, who worked on Google Earth for iPhone, have about 25 years of Macintosh experience and have been on the iPhone since programming was opened up in summer 2018.
- The iPhone SDK was surprisingly similar to programming OS X on a Mac, which was a “leg up” for experienced Mac developers.
- Development tools for iPhone are based on GCC, allowing the use of C and C++ in addition to Objective-C.
- Porting Google Earth to the iPhone was a long-standing dream of the Google Earth team, predating the iPhone’s introduction.
- Technology barriers had previously prevented the realization of holding “the earth in your hand”.
- Google Earth, originally Keyhole Earth Viewer, has been running as an application since around 2001, providing the team with experience in high-performance graphics applications on lower-powered hardware.
- The Google Earth for iPhone was a “project project” and not a “20% time project”.
- Achieving quick response times on the iPhone’s relatively weaker CPU involved significant performance tuning and “trimming out some of the fat” from the desktop version.
- The fast performance also benefited from about ten years of OpenGL tuning on the desktop version of Google Earth.
- Development challenges included adapting to the smaller screen size and deciding which features to include or exclude.
- The team aimed to make the interface simple and uncluttered, with a focus on displaying data rather than decorative elements, influenced by Edward Tufte’s work.
- Key features added included Wikipedia articles and panoramas of photos, making the product about exploring user content, not just satellite imagery.
- The iPhone’s touch interface provided a better way of interacting with the earth than the desktop version.
- The developers had to create their own gesture analyzer because Apple’s SDK provides raw finger position data rather than pre-defined gestures.
- Unexpected uses of Google Earth for iPhone include its adoption by the scientific community for visualizing weather.
- Users can provide feedback and ask questions through a help center group, with a link provided in the iTunes description for Google Earth.
- Google plans future updates for Google Earth for iPhone, adding new features and building on the current version, with a focus on mobile-specific functionalities.