Timeline Visualizer turns the location history that Google Maps records on your phone into a short animated travel video. Export Timeline.json from Google Maps, drop it into the site, pick a date range and an optional music track, and it renders a 9:16 vertical MP4: a map with a marker moving along your real route, the date and distance ticking up as you go, and a final zoom-out that shows the whole trip at once. The result is ready to post to Instagram Reels, TikTok, or share with friends.
Everything runs in the browser. The Timeline.json file is never uploaded — there is no backend and no account. Location history is sensitive data, and keeping it on the device is a core design decision, not an afterthought.
Key features:
- Renders directly from the official Google Maps Timeline export (Timeline.json)
- 9:16 vertical MP4 output with optional background music
- Real route drawn on a map, moving marker, date and distance counters, end-of-trip zoom-out
- Pick any date range from your history to make a video of one trip
- 100% client-side rendering: nothing is uploaded, no signup required
- Works on desktop and mobile browsers, no app to install
- Interface available in English, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Traditional Chinese
Pricing: the core tool is free with no signup. An optional one-time $2.99 Pro unlock adds map styles (dark and Voyager), route colors, an end-of-video recap card, emoji or photo markers, custom music, a kept-trail effect, a watermark handle, and one-tap export of all formats. There is no subscription.
Timeline Visualizer builds on the MIT-licensed open-source google-timeline-visualizer project (an Android app) and rebuilds the idea for the web, so nothing needs installing and the data never leaves the device.
The site also includes step-by-step guides for exporting your Timeline on Android and iPhone, and troubleshooting for the common "empty Timeline.json" export problem.
Jack Cooper