Google is offering free flights with its new flight simulator app.
The tech giant has added a free-to-play flight simulator within its Google Earth mapping software. What’s special about Google Earth Flight Simulator is that you can play it directly in your browser, whether it’s Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari, for example.
Google first began offering Flight Simulator as a hidden feature within its Google Earth software in 2007. But that version required you to download software. This experiment simulator can be used for free using a mouse and keyboard.
Google said in a June 12 post on social media platform
How to fly Google Earth Flight Simulator
Go to the Google Earth web page and click Explore. Click “Tools” and select “Flight Simulator”.
Navigate using the up, down, left, and right arrow keys on your keyboard. There’s also a vertical gauge that you can click to speed up or slow down (you can also use the Page Up and Page Down keys if your keyboard has them).
For more information, see our information page about flight simulator programs.
The launch of the browser version of the flight sim attracted a lot of attention online, with a video posted to Twitter receiving 5.5 million views. Although some commenters on X admitted that there were problems with the control of the plane. (This reporter also admits that there is a problem with not being able to see the horizon.)
One person posted: “This is great, but it’s too hard for me to control.” “I’ve crashed a lot of planes, haha,” said another.
However, flight controls were not an issue for some. Another X commenter boasted, “You can finally crash a jet into your house in 4K resolution right from your browser tab.”
Mike Snyder is a national trends news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, and X, and email him at: mike snyder & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
