Use Google Maps Offline. Google Maps is one of the most popular and reliable services for navigation. But it is not the perfect application without drawbacks. One of the main complaints of users on Google Maps is that navigation works only with Internet and requires a very good signal to render the terrain. So it is essential to use Google Maps Offline.
Fortunately, Google Maps can be used in standalone mode, but this is an excellent feature is useless if you do not take into account the points described in this article. And so, you are preparing to travel or you are going for hiking in the uncharted terrain? Then this is the guide to use Google Maps offline for you.
Before you can use Google Maps to offline mode, you need to download an area or region. Offline map of the area to be loaded before you move away from the source of the Internet.
It is worth noting that the cards, which you can save offline, have large volumes. For example, you can cache data completely for such large cities as Kiev, Minsk and Moscow. There are large space requirements for the flash memory that may take sometimes up to 1.5 GB, depending on downloaded region. There is a way to download the data to SD-card to save space in your phone’s memory. To do this, simply go to Menu> Offline-districts> Settings> Storage Settings and switch to the on SD-card devices.
Also it is worth noting that the shelf life of the cache of these cards will expire after 30 days. This is because the cards are updated on monthly basis. So there is a need of dynamic adjustments required here. For example, in a restaurant or a new dam blocked the river which is no longer on the map. Google wants you to have the latest version of maps for the best user experience.
However for your already “saved map” you did not need to download it again. So you just have to change the settings to activate “automatic update maps offline.” Now map cache will be updated regularly and you will always have the latest version of Google Maps. Also in the settings you can set the update only on Wi-Fi, to save gigabytes of your mobile internet connection provided by the mobile phone operator.
How to download and save Google Maps offline
- Open the Google Maps app
- Find a district or area that you want to download
- If you are looking for a specific place, the panel should appear with the name at the bottom of the screen. If not, simply press and hold anywhere on the map to show this section. Click on it to display the other options
- Then click “Download”
- Now you can zoom in and out, increasing or decreasing the download area.
- By selecting your area of interest, click the “Download” button in the lower right corner
After loading your card you can navigate and find routes on the GPS as well as in the online version, but this time it will be without the use of the Internet thus using Google Maps Offline. As you can see, everything is quite simple and convenient. Yet it is worth noting that not all the elements of a line card will be available in offline Google Maps. For example, some hiking and cycling routes are not tolerated while maintaining cache card. Everything else works as it should. You can find the necessary addresses, to find the company and easy to navigate on the map Google Maps Offline.