Offline Google Maps
When travelling, I like to carry as little as possible. This means that I depend on my phone for a lot of mission critical things: boarding passes, AirBnB or hotel reservations, notes, travel itinerary, camera. One of the most important features of Google Maps I use when travelling is offline maps. The offline maps feature of Google Maps allows you to download a map, and all its street data, transit locations and points of interest to your phone. This means if you ever find yourself in a situation without wifi or a cellular data plan, you will still be able to at least know where you are and get basic directions.
How to Use Offline Maps with Google Maps
Open Google Maps and search for the city or region you’d like to make available offline.
Tap the “hamburger” menu in the top left to reveal the Google Maps menu.
Select Offline Maps. On this screen you’ll be able to see all maps you’ve downloaded for offline use, and create new ones.
To download an offline map of your current area select “Local”. If you want to download one of the custom area you’ve searched, tap “Custom map”
You can pinch and zoom the map to make the region larger or smaller. You will get an estimate at the bottom of the screen showing how much data this will need on your phone.
Detailed Photos
Check out the photos below for a detailed look at how to use offline maps in Google Maps.
GPS
A common misconception is that GPS in Google Maps (or any mapping app) costs cellular data. This is mostly false. Modern smartphones do rely on cell towers somewhat for positioning. They use cell tower triangulation to get your approximate location without a need for a GPS. This saves battery life on your phone (using your phone’s GPS can be quite the power hog 🔋🐷). Most modern smartphones have a dedicated GPS radio that will still work, without the need of cell towers, if you are in airplane mode. This means if you’re travelling in a location without cellular data and you’ve downloaded your maps in advance, your GPS will still work for free. Just make sure you’re in airplane mode or have data roaming turned off.
