I recently pondered the bustling neighborhood of South Mumbai. Instead of relying on others for information, I turned to Google Maps, the mapping app used by 155 million users monthly. Boasting 21 petabytes of data, it offers easy navigation, transportation options, and discovery in cities worldwide. But Google Maps requires internet, which made me wonder how to use google maps offline.
However, a lack of internet connection can render Google Maps useless. This can occur in areas with limited network coverage, or when you’ve exhausted your data plan. In these situations, having foresight and downloading Google Maps’ Offline Maps feature can come in handy. Now you can navigate without relying on a working internet connection.
Decoding Google Maps Offline Mode
You can skip to the “How to Use Google Maps Without Using the Internet” section right away.
Simply put, the Offline Maps feature lets you download a chuck of the map from a few hundred kilometers in diameter to a few thousand kilometers in one go. Once you download the map, you can access the map in its default layer.
You cannot download other layers in offline mode at least for now where it is limited. Downloading the offline map gives you access to all the information regarding that particular chunk of the map including buildings and places, roads and directions, etc. Also, you can’t access public transport information at this moment but that means you have stripped away too much.
The turn-by-turn navigation ensures you reach your destination within the boundaries of the download maps with relative ease and of course, without any internet connection.
How to use Google Maps without using the internet
We have bifurcated the process into two parts. The first part deals with how you can download maps for offline use, to begin with. The second part deals with how to use the offline map once downloaded.
Part 1: How To Download Maps
Step #1: First, open Google Maps on your phone (iOS and Android) assuming that you have a working internet/Wi-Fi connection.
Step #2: Scroll to find the particular chunk of the map or an entire city or country that you want to save offline.
Step #3: Tap on your ‘Profile’ in the top-right corner to reveal the menu. The particular option was available as a hamburger menu in previous iterations.
Step #4: Click on ‘Offline Maps’ where Google Maps will automatically suggest the maps recommended to you.
Step #5: Tap on ‘Select Your Own Map’ where you will be guided to the map view with a rectangular area available that you can zoom in and out to select the area you want to save as offline mode. You can select an area from a few hundred kilometers to a few thousand kilometers.
Step #6: Finally, tap on the ‘Download’ button that will take you back to the interface on Step #4 where you can see the map being downloaded.
Step #7: Check out ‘Downloaded Maps’ where you will see all the maps that you’ve downloaded so far.
Note: The piece of map that you just downloaded remains available for a year and will expire after the due date. You can retain it by hitting the ‘Update’ button. Additionally, you can set Google Maps on auto-update eliminating the need to manually update everytime.
Part 2: How To Use Google Maps Offline Mode
Step #1: Open Google Maps on your phone.
Step #2: Locate the area on the maps that you downloaded.
Step #3: You should be able to see more details, streets and road names, buildings, and other locations on the chunk that you downloaded.
Step #4: Tap on the point on the map from where you want the directions to the destinations and viola, you will see turn-by-turn navigation for the same.
Wrapping Up
It is quite common to lose network coverage in India especially if you are travelling. Using the internet for location is power-consuming which becomes annoying when you have a few percentages of battery left at your disposal.
There are countless reasons why you can use offline mode on Google Maps and the guide above literally ‘guides’ you on how to use Google Maps without the internet. Pair it up with any of your reasons and this how-to guide will work just fine giving you accurate maps and directions without needing to stop by asking nearby people where you are and where you should be heading.
