Selecting Google Earth View Wallpapers as an image source creates errors in the system log

[padames]

Version of Variety

Variety version 0.8.12
System: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
Package manager: apt

Describe the bug

When tailing the /var/log/syslog a recurrent error shows when the option to download images from Google Earth View Wallpapers is selected in the "General" tab of the "Variety Preferences" dialogue window.

The specific error entry is:

2024-12-13T10:24:00.368060-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: ERROR: 2024-12-13 10:24:00,366: download_one_from() 'Could not download wallpaper:'
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370162-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: Traceback (most recent call last):
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370254-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/variety/VarietyWindow.py", line 1161, in download_one_from
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370319-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: file = downloader.download_one()
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370369-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370421-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/variety/plugins/downloaders/DefaultDownloader.py", line 141, in download_one
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370473-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: items = self.fill_queue()
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370516-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370573-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/variety/plugins/builtin/downloaders/EarthviewDownloader.py", line 57, in fill_queue
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370615-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: queue = Util.fetch_json(DATA_URL)
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370656-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370706-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/variety/Util.py", line 684, in fetch_json
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370769-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: return Util.request(url, data, **request_kwargs).json()
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370813-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370857-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/variety/Util.py", line 663, in request
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370902-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: r.raise_for_status()
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370944-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/requests/models.py", line 1021, in raise_for_status
2024-12-13T10:24:00.370986-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: raise HTTPError(http_error_msg, response=self)
2024-12-13T10:24:00.371032-07:00 XPS13 variety.desktop[4083]: requests.exceptions.HTTPError: 404 Client Error: Not Found for url: https://earthview.withgoogle.com/_api/photos.json

Context

This happens if the option to download images from this service is enabled.

To Reproduce

1. Open Variety Preferences from the desktop menu
2. Select Google Earth View Wallpapers from the "General" tab of the window.
3. Tail the log file with the following command line in a terminal window: tail -F /var/log/syslog
4. Read the error message posted in this bug report off the log output in the terminal

Attach Variety's log file

Desktop environment and version

Desktop: ubuntu-desktop 1.539.1 amd64

OS name and version

OS: Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS

Screenshots

Attached files

Additional context

This service seems unavailable and the requests for explanation have gone unanswered by Google for a few months now. See https://support.google.com/earth/thread/255208461/what-happened-to-the-earthview-withgoogle-com-website?hl=en

The option does not seem to bring down the app but it is not working as designed for reasons outside of the control of Variety. It could be removed until the service is restored or an official confirmation that it will not be restored can be secured.