Home » Solitaire games » Google maps on a smartphone work without the Internet. How to Use Google Maps Without an Internet Connection

Google maps on a smartphone work without the Internet. How to Use Google Maps Without an Internet Connection

In one of the recent updates the application Google Maps for Android has received a number of new functions related to working without access to the Internet. Let's see what offline capabilities Google Maps now has.

The ability to fully work with the Google Maps application without access to the Internet, announced in May at the Google I/O 2015 developer conference, was truly a surprise. This includes address search, POI search, planning, and changing routes. The functions are really useful, but few people expected such a step from such a progressive and Internet-oriented company.

(Fragment about Google Maps at the presentation from 1:24:08)

About six months have passed, and now all the promised offline functions can be used in the current version Google apps Maps for Android.

Offline navigation and working with Google Maps without the Internet may be necessary when access to the World Wide Web may be difficult in a particular place, it is unprofitable to use the Internet while roaming, or for other reasons.

At the moment there are many applications, including free ones (for example), aimed at using maps without access to the Internet, but we definitely welcome the emergence of new offline functions of Google Maps. The user has a wider choice of suitable solutions.

There have been some solutions related to the offline operation of Google Maps before. For example, the ability to download a selected area on a map has been available for several years. At first this feature was present in the experimental development section, but later became available in normal mode.

But the value of offline use mobile application Until recently, Google Maps was very small, because it was impossible to perform an address search, find an establishment of interest by request in the search bar, or build a route to the right place. Now a lot has changed.

Let's note the main functions of the Google Maps application for Android related to working without access to the Internet:

downloading a selected area on the map for offline access (the option existed before);
address search, search for establishments, companies, ATMs, gas stations, etc. (POI);
viewing brief description, operating mode, contact details (if indicated), ratings from users of the object of interest;
planning a route and measuring the distance between points;
navigation mode along the selected route with automatic correction of the route in case of deviation.

How to use these offline features?

First, you need to first download the area of interest on the map. Address search, POI search, route planning, etc. without the Internet will work in this downloaded area. You will not be able, for example, to search for ATMs in Dnepropetrovsk if you have only downloaded the section of the map with Kiev.

And then you can use Google Maps without the Internet, as if you were working normally. Please note that the detail of downloaded maps for offline access will be more modest.

When selecting an area to download, the program first estimates how much data this area can occupy. Note that the application overestimates the estimated volume, and greatly. For example, having chosen the area covering Kyiv, instead of the stated 250 MB, the downloaded map took only 52 MB.

The list of sections uploaded for offline access is located in a separate menu item. You can update data or delete unnecessary areas.

If the downloaded area includes several settlements, there are no restrictions for building routes between these settlements. By the way, with offline access only car routes are used.

The quality of the routes laid is very high. Thanks to the advanced algorithms used in Google Maps for this.

The navigation mode itself along the selected route is quite convenient. The most necessary settings and functions are there, but, of course, special applications for car GPS navigation, such as iGO, will be noticeably more advanced in this regard.

We're very excited about the new offline features added to Google Maps. Now, even if you have difficulty accessing the Internet, the Google Maps application will still be very useful.

Using the search, find the desired area or press a finger on a place, thereby marking it on the map;
Click on the bottom bar with the name of the street, city, country;

Tap on the menu button (three dots), which is located next to “Search”, if there is only a magnifying glass button, this area is not supported by maps for offline use;
Next, select “Save offline map”.

Each of you has encountered a problem when there is no Internet access, but you really need to open the map on your device and study it in detail to clarify the route or just to show the nearest area to your friends and acquaintances. In this case there is large number third party cards in Google Play, which have the function of offline downloading of territories, but why go far when stock maps from Google with an intuitive interface can give us almost everything the same?

Google Maps is built into all Android devices equipped with the Google services package (GMS), however, the Nokia X2, although it does not have Silicon Valley services, includes proprietary maps from the ex-Finnish manufacturer Nokia Here Maps or something similar, if it comes about another manufacturer, be it cards from Yandex, which decided to compete with Google, but let’s not go off topic. In order to download maps to the device memory, you need to:

Now, to open the saved area, you need to:

Swipe right to open the main menu;
Select “Your places”;
Scroll to the very end of the page and tap on your map or open the offline maps setting, from where you can save new map, rename, update or delete the old one.

This function appeared not so long ago, and it will take time for it to be fully operational. So, today not all territories are accessible, but only the most popular ones, for example, the territory of Russia is still “in the air,” as well as the territory of Lithuania and other European countries, not to mention Africa. However, this is only a matter of time; in the near future, our country will definitely become part of the offline map system.
The next drawback is the time limit of 30 days, after which the saved maps will be automatically cleared from the device’s memory.
Separately, we note: this is not just saving a certain area, region, no, Google Maps saves only the area that you are viewing and where you were previously, this is convenient if, for example, you use navigation on the same routes every day, it sounds ridiculous, but we have no other explanation for the use of this function. Moreover, Maps do not save all levels of drawing the territory as you get closer/more distant, namely those levels at which you viewed the area; if you look closer, the map simply will not be drawn, showing only low-resolution textures.
Conclusions. Healthy? Of course, but it depends on who: if you are a bus driver or a taxi driver who wants to get to know the city roads better, then this function will certainly help the device not waste a large amount of resources, but if you want to use navigation in the long term, it is better to look towards real offline ones -maps, of which there are again quite a lot on Google Play.

A mobile map of the area is an indispensable thing when traveling. And in order to use it without the Internet while roaming, you must first download the data to your tablet or smartphone.

Select an area to use without Network

First, select the coverage area that you will download to Google Maps for your next trip. This procedure is the same whether you are using an Android or iOS device. For a selected map area, you can download up to 1.7 gigabytes of data. Since maps weigh a lot, it is recommended to download them via a stable Wi-Fi connection.

Open Google Maps on your device. Through the search, find the desired location and move it to the desired distance. Then, through the application menu, go to the “Downloaded areas” option and click on the “Select area” button. You will automatically be offered to download exactly the area that was before your eyes. You can further adjust it, after which just click the “Download” button. Google Maps will also notify you approximately how much the selected area will weigh and where it will be downloaded (to the device memory or memory card).

To check that the map is working correctly, disconnect from the Internet after downloading the map and try zooming in on different areas of the territory. The map and names of streets, as well as important objects, should be zoomed in and displayed without problems.

Save maps to a memory card

Owners of Android devices that can accommodate additional memory via an SD card can download maps not to the device itself, but directly to external memory. To do this, while in the “Downloaded Areas” menu, click on the gear icon to go to settings and then to the “Data storage” option.

In the dialog box you will be given the choice: “Device” and “SD card”. Just select the external memory and click the "Save" button.

How to use cards without the Internet

Without an Internet connection, Google Maps provides us with incomplete functionality. We cannot create walking or cycling routes, or find out information about public transport; naturally, information about traffic jams and so on cannot be loaded. However, with the GPS module turned on, you will be able to track your position on the ground, which will allow you to get your bearings and not get lost in a new city.

Of course, the accuracy of determination on the ground without an Internet connection may not be so ideal. But the error is not so terrible.

In order to protect yourself from updating maps via the mobile Internet while roaming, this feature can be disabled. In the “Downloaded areas” settings, follow the “Enable data saving” link and then activate the “Only over Wi-Fi” option. Thus, without a Wi-Fi connection, only previously downloaded areas will be available. If you are in a home cellular area, you can disable this option.

Manage downloaded maps

At the end of your trip, previously downloaded maps can be deleted, which is especially important when you used the device’s built-in memory for downloading. To do this, through the Google Maps menu, again go to the “Downloaded areas” item and in the section of the same name, select one of the downloaded maps.

You will be shown the area that was loaded and the opportunity to update the information on this map or delete it from memory. Here you can also set a name for the downloaded map to make it easier to navigate the downloaded maps in the future.

You can also configure the application so that the downloaded maps themselves are periodically updated as needed. To do this, by clicking on the gear icon from the “Downloaded areas” area, the “Automatically update downloaded areas” setting must be active.

Just recently we wrote about it, and now we will continue to work on useful things, resulting in another step by step instructions for novice Android users - how to use Google Maps offline.

Note: This article is intended for new Android device users or those who want to refresh their memory.

Before you begin

There are several requirements to take advantage of the recommendations in this manual. As you guessed, you need a smartphone or tablet running on Android, and the latest version of Google Maps must be installed. Most likely, Google maps is already installed on your gadget, otherwise, you can always download the latest version of the application for free from Google Play Store.

Pros and cons of Google Maps

Google Maps is a powerful navigation tool, but it also has its downsides. The fact is that Maps works great with a constant Internet connection, which cannot be said without it. Google started working on this issue many years ago, and now you can download all the necessary data to navigate the area. The downloaded map image will be exactly the same as when working online.

The Download Map feature allows you to cache an area the size of a typical big city. Before we tell you how to save a specific map area for offline use, let's discuss some difficulties that you may encounter along the way.

First, Google Maps offers offline maps for a limited time - 30 days. The fact is that Google is constantly improving its maps - during this time, streets may be added or removed, or several business centers will appear, in any case, after this time you will have to download and save the desired area of the map again. Well, if you are going on a long hike without an Internet connection, then Google Maps offline is unlikely to be useful.

Secondly, Google Maps offline mode has limited search and navigation functionality. Of course, in offline mode you can find out how to get to your destination and record your route. However, you will not be able to reverse your route created at home if you have Internet access. We hope that you remember the way home, or at least know how to use a map without navigation.

And finally, you can only download six offline maps. The idea is that for most cases this is more than enough, and you won't need a lot of free space to download maps. This means if you're going on a long trip, then you may have to stop halfway to remove the first set of maps and load the remaining maps to get to your destination. Not fun at all, is it?

How to use Google Maps offline

Well, we've come to this key moment Our article today is about how to use Google Maps offline.

First, you need to make sure that you have a stable Internet connection, preferably WiFi, since you will have to download approximately 80 MB of data or more, which is approximately how much one map area takes up.

Launch the Google Maps application and navigate to the area you want to save for offline use.

Click on the search bar at the top of the screen.

Now you can zoom and scroll the area you want to save, and then click the Download button. If the selected area is too large, the following message will appear at the top of the screen: “Area too large. Zoom in on the map”, and the Download button will become inactive.

When everything is done correctly, a window will appear in which you need to enter the name of the loaded map area and click Save.

Now your map area is saved and you can use Google Maps offline.

What's next?

Once your maps are uploaded, Google now gives you 30 days until they become out of date. After this time has expired, you can always reload the saved map (offline map), to do this, log in Menu/Your places/Setting up offline maps then we find the desired card and click the map menu and Update.

Do you need to make a trip within your city using Google Maps offline? Navigation works offline, just create a route when you have an Internet connection, say before leaving home. Google Maps will automatically download the information it needs to show you the way to your destination. It will even download the area of the map it needs, so you don't have to download the map manually. Once your route is set, Google Maps will provide you with the information you need, at least until you arrive at your destination, or until you turn off Maps on your device completely.

Please remember that you will not be able to initiate navigation using Google Maps in offline mode, downloaded maps of areas in order to simply view them. But still, if your smartphone or tablet is equipped with a GPS sensor, then you have a powerful tool in your hands to find your way, and you don’t need access to the Internet at all.

What do you say: Will you use Google Maps offline for travel, or trust another navigation application?

Stay tuned, there is still a lot of interesting things ahead.

If you find yourself out of reach, it doesn’t matter, because you can search for objects and create routes in Google Maps offline.

Our instructions are suitable for latest version Google Maps for Android and iOS. In more earlier versions Application menu item names may vary slightly.

Saving Google Maps on iOS

Open the Google Maps app on . At the top of the search bar, enter the name of the desired city or region.
To get as large a section of the map as possible, zoom out. Don't worry, in the offline version you can enlarge the map to the size you need.
Click on the search bar and enter “ok maps”. You will see the Google Maps logo with a loading bar. Usually the map loads in a couple of seconds, after which it is saved in the application cache. If the partition you select is too large, you will see a notification.
Disable internet access and restart Maps. Now you can search for addresses and build routes to saved areas offline.

Using offline maps on Android

Open Google Maps and select the area you want to save.
Go to the application menu (three bars next to the search bar) and go to the “Offline maps” section.
Then everything is simple: click the “Select map” button and confirm the marked area by clicking “Download”.
Just like in iOS, you will see how much space the saved map will take up. If it is not enough, try reducing the selected area.

My Maps: processing maps using Google Drive

You can also access your maps using the Google Drive app. Then you won't have to waste a lot of memory to save maps from Google Maps.

Open the Google Drive page and sign in to your account Google.
Click New - More - Google My Maps.
Here you can edit and save routes, make notes on maps, and add layers.
You can also share maps with friends via Google Drive.