Saving and Using Google Maps Offline: Your Step-by-Step Guide
Even though it seems like cellular signal is available pretty much everywhere on the planet these days, sometimes there are still places where cellular signal does not reach. You may find your phone without signal in the middle of Australian Alps when you are climbing a mountain, for instance, or in the outback when you are riding a bike in the countryside! Fortunately, to help you deal with those times when you just cannot get phone reception no matter how hard you look, Google Maps gives you the feature to save any map for offline use. Of course, when you are offline you will not be able to get directions or do any other fancy stuff, but still, having a good map can save you from getting lost. If you have never used the offline map feature before, the following steps will guide you: Step 1: Turn on your Wi-Fi or cellular data in a place where signal is available, like your hotel or house, and launch your Google Maps. Make sure that you sign into your Google Account before using the app. Step 2: Search the map of your destination by either speaking its name or by typing the same inside the search box. Step 3: Look for the location name toward the lower part of the phone screen, and tap it. A screen containing data about weather and certain facts will appear. Step 4: Locate three dots toward the upper right corner of the screen and tap the dots (see the arrow in the screenshot above). Step 5: Click on ‘Save Offline Map’ option from the list of options you get. The app will ask you whether you want to save your map. To go ahead, perform a bit of zoom in and zoom out in order to adjust the total area you wish to save. Once you are satisfied with the area, click the ‘Download’ button, which can be found toward the bottom left corner. Then, save your map using a name that you can remember easily. Step 6: To make sure that your saved maps have fresh information, you may want to update your maps on a monthly basis. That is because 30 days is the default period for which Google Maps are considered as up to date. To open any of your saved maps later, click the ‘Hamburger’ button after launching your Google Maps app. The ‘Hamburger’ button can be found toward the left of the search box. Step 7: Select ‘Your Places’ from the menu you get. You will see a list of all the maps you have saved lately to use offline. Locate whichever map you wish to view and tap on it to expand. Even though you cannot get directions or search for anything specific when dealing with your offline maps, you can still get a lot of information, including points of interest. You can locate a great restaurant, for instance, even when there is absolutely zero cellular reception in the area. In case you use a limited data pack on your iPhone, offline maps will help you save some of your precious megabytes. On the other hand, in case your phone does not have much space left, you will reduce its space further by saving maps to use offline.
