Google Maps adds offline features

While Google Maps is fairly easy to use in general, the new process to download and cache the desired geographic area is a bit involved and manual.

The latest update of Google Maps now allows its users to download an area or a region of the world to any user’s Android devices and get directions along the way, even without Internet connectivity.

In order to prevent mobile data overage charges, Google has stopped users from downloading areas of map when they are on a data connection. You can also jump into the Google Maps menu, go to Offline Areas, and then hit the “+” button.

This offline maps support is rolling out to Google Maps for Android starting today. Google did not say exactly when iOS devices will have offline compatibility, except for “soon”.

Meanwhile it has emerged that Google faces a fresh round of European Union questions about its Android operating system and whether services like Google Maps has supplanted in-car navigation technologies provided by TomTom and Nokia’s HERE mapping unity. In Google’s example, a map of San Francisco took up 375MB of space. On Tuesday, the company added new functionality to offline maps including turn-by-turn directions, the ability to search for a destination, and place data. The app will favour online mode, to get the most up to date information like live traffic or shop hours of operation, but will continue navigating seamlessly in offline mode if connection is lost.

Previously mentioned during its I/O conference in May, Google did not offer a release time until now. You couldn’t use the downloaded maps for turn-by-turn navigation. The information is then downloaded via a Wi-Fi connection (to avoid heavy data fees) and shoved into the offline mode.

Google recognised that a significant portion of the world is without internet access, but there are also areas where online connectivity is spotty or unreliable.

Google first provided a glimpse of the new update during Google I/O in May this year.