Looking for a map program with recent-ish satellite views

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve checked the satellite views on Apple maps, google maps, and google earth and none of the satellite views are anywhere near recent. Is there a map provider with recent satellite maps (within 6 months, say)? Or am I doing something wrong and can I get recent satellite views on one of the above programs?

Thanks,
J.

2

Those aren’t satellite views, they’re aerial photos.

3

There may not be more recent aerial photos available to the public. Unlike what you see in TV shows, not every square inch of the world is photographed every day.

4

Actually, most of what you see on GoogleMaps, etc, IS satellite imagery these days.

To the OP – try this:
https://earthnow.usgs.gov/observer/

5

I always thought the closer views were aerial photos due to the infrequent updates.

6

What I’ve been told is this (grain of salt, please) - The photos on Google or other sources are there because they’ve been “provided” to the secondary market. Someone needed an aerial photo of an area, and paid for it. The photographer then took that photo and sold it to Google, which updated their maps. If you’re in an area that has no market for aerial photos, they don’t get updated. I.e. Google Maps of New York will have a month-or-two date on them, Google Maps of Buttonhollow, Arkansas (population 4), will have years-old photos because nobody cares.

7

Thanks for the link, but it’s not exactly what I’m looking for. Maybe I don’t know how to use it, but I was looking for a site where I type in an address and get shown the view. This site just seems to play real time or recorded satellite swaths.

Thanks,
J.

8

The different map websites sometimes contract out their aerial imagery to different providers, so it’s worth trying a few and seeing if any of them have more recent photos.

Free providers:

Paid services that can have more recent images, but you have to pay:

9

Google Maps started out as Keyhole.

10

This is an excellent suggestion. A great many counties are now including a set of GIS pages that often have local photographs, both aerial and street view. A few, like the odd folks of Oakland County, MI originally made you pay for access and specify what you want to look at, but the majority provide free access, usually related to the county assessor’s office. (Oakland may have changed their policies–I have not checked, recently.)
To get started, just go to Google or Bing and enter “[county name] GIS”. (For frequently used names, you may need to include the state.)

11

I use GaiaGPS software for my hiking. It includes a phone app and a web site, shows tracks and lets you create routes and waypoints, and has multiple backgrounds available, such as USGS maps of various ages, aerial or satellite photos, and a street map that helps one get to the hiking area in the first place.

One of the available layers is “FreshSat Recent”, which are “satellite” (possibly aerial) photographs from as recent as they can make them. I live in a rural area, not very close to any significant cities, and I just looked. The view that includes my house is dated 2022-12-01.

12

Thanks for that tip! Gaia says they combine imagery from the Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8 satellites. You can view (paid I think) some of those same images here, without the app: EOS LandViewer