How to download google maps on android devices. How to download offline Google Maps on Android How to download offline Google Maps

Earlier we reviewed free gps navigators for Android. Today we will select a navigator, focusing on offline work - to work with maps without the Internet by activating the gps connection on your phone. Let's focus on the offline features of navigators and maps that come bundled with android apps.

Offline navigators - participants of the review:

Advantages of offline maps

By default, all mobile navigators are online and may become unstable without a direct Internet connection. In the absence of the Network, navigators do not display maps and do not build routes. All this can become a serious problem.

The problem can be easily fixed by downloading offline maps to your gadget. They will work offline: in Russia, neighboring countries and Europe. Offline maps are indispensable for navigation if you have expensive mobile data or you open the map in a place where there is no Internet access.

Google Navigator: enable offline maps on Android

Saving offline maps

Connect to a WiFi network, open the Google Maps app on your mobile device.
Make sure you are signed in with your Google account in Google Maps.
Search the GPS navigator for the city or place you want to save as an offline map.
Click on the bottom bar of the Google Maps application - the name of the location will be displayed here.
In the upper right corner of Google Navigator, a menu will be available with the option to save an offline map.

Google Maps gps navigator allows you to download free offline maps (one of the best in detail)

Some features of offline Google Maps:

You can pan and zoom the map before saving it. The largest offline map is about 30 square miles.
You can save an offline map with any name. It is convenient to give a clear name so that you can delete the file or check if the desired city is in the list of saved maps.
For each map, its expiration date is indicated: it is advisable to check the relevance and update the files as needed.
Once the map is deleted, you won't be able to use it offline until you download/update again.

View saved offline maps in Google Navigator

Open Google Maps on Android with a previously used account;
Go to the main menu of the application through the sidebar by clicking on the button with horizontal stripes;
Go to the "Offline Maps" section;
Actions are available for each offline map: Download, View, Rename, Delete.

Waze is a free GPS navigator that works without internet

The Waze Android app doesn't have the obvious offline save feature of, say, Google Maps. The navigator from time to time requires an Internet connection for full operation. However, there are some workarounds for downloading offline offline maps.

How to save maps offline using the Waze app

In order to download an offline Waze map, you need to:

Pre-connect to the network;
Open the Waze app on your phone;
Enter the address you want to save for offline work;
After finding the specified location, Waze will store the data in the cache.

You can use the offline map when traveling in Europe or Russia. Please note that in offline mode, you will not be able to update the data until you connect your mobile device to the Internet. Traffic information will also not be available offline.

How to upload traffic information to Waze navigator

Make sure your mobile device is connected to the Internet;
Open Waze GPS Navigator and enter the location you want to go to;
Waze will calculate routes to your destination and display them in the app when navigating;
Click on the Waze icon to open the menu, find the "Settings" icon in the new pop-up window;
To save your current traffic information, go to Waze > Advanced settings > Data transfer > Download traffic information > Enable.

In addition to traffic information, Waze will display how much data has already been downloaded and cached by the app.

Yandex Navigator in offline mode (without internet connection)

Free vector maps can be downloaded through the main application settings. This option is available to owners of both Android and iOS versions of the navigator from Yandex. True, the list of offline maps is limited to the CIS countries and a number of adjacent territories. For most of Europe, alas, offline maps are not available.

Navitel is a popular navigator with offline function

Android Offline Maps transforms your phone into a complete GPS device. At the same time, you do not need to spend money on mobile traffic, which is most often very expensive.

Not all users want to spend time downloading individual locations (as described above). You can download a set of detailed maps for a specific country or region once. One such solution is Navitel Navigator. It is available for Android smartphones and tablets, iOS devices, car navigators.

In the "Buy" section on the developer's website, special packages of offline maps are posted. And not only for Russia, but also for neighboring countries, Europe, the USA, Latin America.

In terms of the quality of map detail, this is perhaps the best offline navigator for mobile devices.

Sygic is an offline navigator for Europe and the USA

Sygic is a GPS navigation app. Supports free 3D offline maps for Android, you can travel anywhere with them (at least it is > 200 countries). Offline maps display Points of Interest - gas stations, cafes, shops, attractions. All that is required to use the maps is to first download them to your mobile device.

Realtime functions work only in online mode. In particular, Sygic offers the most accurate traffic information based on data from 500 million users worldwide. Information is also provided by global car manufacturers, mobile operators, mapping and traffic information providers.

During the first 7 days, you can test all the features of the navigator (including those available with a Lifetime Premium subscription). After 7 days, Sygic leaves only basic features, but this is quite enough for full-fledged work.

Maps.me - GPS navigator for phone with OSM maps

Maps.me is a great free navigator for users who need offline and .

Maps.me supports offline OpenStreetMap maps, which are well detailed. Regular users participate in the development of maps. Some maps are qualitatively better than Google Maps. It comes to the point that a shop or path can be marked on the Maps.me map, which are not in other navigators.

Working offline is convenient: in fact, you can get directions without an internet connection on your phone. For offline work, you must first download the map to your device through the menu of the Maps.me navigator.

Maps.me: detailed offline maps for Android

The second option is to go to the desired location and zoom in on it. The map fragment of interest will be loaded into the phone's cache. Offline maps take up only a few tens of megabytes.

What is the best offline navigator?

Let's summarize.

If openness and free maps are important, all offline navigators are good except for Navitela. If you are willing to pay about $30 for quality, Navitel Navigator is a great solution and will no doubt pay back the money invested. This gps program holds its own and is popular.

Navigation Google Maps works without an Internet connection, however, there is still a limitation for Android and iOS versions: you can save only certain sections of the map (one or several cities) for offline use, while motorists most often need more expanded sections of maps .

Waze is a promising navigator with a large community. But keep in mind: not all traffic information will be available offline, and maps are not always perfect in their detail.

Sygic: GPS Navigation displays 3D offline maps for 200+ countries. The application will be convenient when moving around Europe and the USA without the Internet.

Advice. Install not one, but two navigators on your phone. Download offline maps and test each option. Leave the app you like more.

The Google Maps app has an offline mode that's perfect for when you need to figure out a route or find out where you are, when you don't have Wi-Fi, you have poor 4G signal, or you just don't want to waste your mobile data. .

Many people use Google Maps on a daily basis, and some of them completely trust it to navigate in space. If you've ever traveled to a new city and needed to find the streets you need, you should know how useful it can be to have maps available at all times. Below you will learn how to use the Google Maps app offline.

How to use Google Maps offline.

How to use Google Maps offline

The only caveat to using Google Maps offline is that you first need to access it online in order to download and save the required data first. You will need to do some work at home or at your hotel if you are traveling before you can leave your accommodation and use the maps offline. Your actions:

Open Google Maps (online) and find your desired location. You can either use your current location to save the area around you, or find an area where you can head to in the future.
Once you've found a location/area you want to save for offline use, the easiest way to download it is to go to the options menu by clicking on the three line icon (hamburger) and then clicking on the "Offline Maps" icon.

Now tap your map at the top of the screen and you'll be presented with the message "Download this area?".
Drag the map into the blue square until it displays the area you want. Using two fingers, zoom in on the map for more detailed information about the place of interest to you. Use your fingers again to zoom out and cover a larger area.
You will notice that the file size will be automatically updated at the bottom of the screen. The larger the area you want to save, the larger the file size will be.
When you are satisfied, click on the "Download" icon.
You can also navigate to the download area by dropping the pointer icon or by finding the area of interest, then clicking on the box at the bottom (as if you were looking for images or a specific address) and clicking on the download on the right hand side.

You won't be prompted to name the downloaded area right away, but you can do so later through the offline map area you've entered.
Once you've downloaded the map to your device, you can access it by tapping the menu icon in the top left corner of the Google Maps home page and returning to the offline map screen.
You'll also see the expiration dates and file sizes of all the maps you've uploaded. Cards expire after 30 days unless you use or renew them.
You can also remove previously saved maps from this screen by clicking on the three dots icon to launch the options panel.

If you don't want to lose downloaded maps, you can set them to update automatically before they expire.
Click the gear icon in the top right corner of the offline maps screen and make sure the first option, which automatically updates offline maps, is enabled.
You can also choose whether you want your maps to be updated over Wi-Fi or mobile data.

Offline map limits and other options

Once you download the map, you will be able to use it just as if you were connected to 4G Wi-Fi. However, there are some limitations to the functionality of these maps, mainly in relation to the size of the place you are looking for. You cannot download a map of, say, the whole of Russia. The square that you draw around the area you want has a limited size, and it is not possible to download information that exceeds 1.5 GB of memory. Plus, you also won't be able to see walking directions, current traffic information, and route changes if you're using Google Maps offline.

Also, downloaded maps require quite a bit of storage space to store the detailed information they provide, so we recommend that you connect to Wi-Fi before downloading all the maps you need. Keep this in mind when choosing how you want to update your offline maps if you don't want them to expire. A Wi-Fi connection is not that hard to find these days, so we suggest limiting automatic updates to that network only.

Walking routes are not available offline.

You can also use offline maps, keeping your mobile data active for other apps. Open the Google Maps menu and turn on Wi-Fi mode. You'll still be able to use your offline maps, saving not only mobile data, but also your phone's battery.

Are you comfortable using offline Google Maps? Tell us about it in the comments.

By saving a map area on your device, you can use it even without an Internet connection, for example, where mobile data is expensive or the connection speed is slow.

Note. This feature is not available in some regions due to technical limitations, address format issues, lack of support for certain languages, etc.

Step 1. Download the map

Note. Downloaded maps can be stored in the device memory or on an SD card. If you decide to change the storage location, the map will have to be downloaded again.

How to save offline maps to SD card

Step 2: Save Battery and Data (Optional)

When working with offline maps, you can use applications that require an Internet connection.

Notes

Without an Internet connection, only one type of route is available - automobile.
However, you will not be able to find alternative routes, view traffic data and choose a lane.

Using offline maps

Downloaded maps can be used in the same way as usual, that is, when the device is connected to the Internet.

If you are not connected to a network or your data rate is too low, offline maps will be used for navigation.

Notes

How to manage offline maps

How to update offline map

The offline map must be updated before it expires. When this date is 15 days or less away, the app will attempt to update the offline map automatically if the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

If the maps do not update automatically, follow the instructions below.

How to update maps via alert

Open the offline map update alert and click Refresh.
Select an outdated card from the list.
Click Refresh.
The downloaded area will be updated.

How to update maps through the app

Maps for upcoming trips

You can also download maps of the places you plan to visit. Information about your trips is collected from Gmail, Google Trips, Hangouts and other Google services. Such maps are available for download in the "Recommended Maps" section.

When in a good navigator everything is in one place.

Every iOS device comes with an app. Cards. And although Apple is actively developing its own mapping service, due to a number of features of its work, users from the CIS countries prefer third-party navigators.

A place under the sun was won by a service from Google - Google Maps. Three months ago, the mobile version of the application received the long-awaited one, which at first worked exclusively on Android and only recently reached iOS.

Convenient, economical, practical ... But it turns on, to put it mildly, not obvious:

Note: A Google account is strictly required to use offline mode. Before enabling offline access log in to the Maps app.

Open Google Maps and in the search bar, find the settlement or address you are interested in.
Call the settings side menu (tap on the three dashes near the search bar) and click on the item Downloaded areas.
In the window that opens, click on the " + ».
Google will prompt you to download a map for the area, region, or city you entered. By changing the scale, you can significantly reduce the final size of the map (more zoom - smaller map). After deciding on the size of the card, click Download.
Name the map any convenient name and click Save.
Wait for the download to finish. The finished map will go to the section Downloaded areas.

A feature of offline mode in Google Maps is that the saved image is available within 30 days since the download. After the expiration date, Google recommends updating the added area map from the appropriate section.

By the way. If there is not enough memory on the iPhone, try this .

Offline mode allows you to use the application as a navigator (including a voice assistant), but the display of current traffic jams and the current traffic situation (if there is no connection) will not be available. You can't download country maps.

For detailed settings, see the explainer video:

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

Our instructions will work for the latest version of Google Maps for Android and iOS. In earlier versions of the application, the names of menu items may differ slightly.

Save 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 the largest section of the map, zoom out. Don't worry, in the standalone version you will be able to enlarge the map to the desired size.
Click on the search bar and type "ok maps". You will see the Google Maps logo with a download bar. Usually the map is loaded in a couple of seconds, after which it is stored in the application's cache. If the section you selected is too large, you will see a notification to that effect.
Disable internet access and restart Maps. Now you can search for addresses and build routes in saved areas offline.

Using offline maps on Android

Open Google Maps on and select the area you want to save.
Go to the application menu (three bars near 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: Edit Maps with Google Drive

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

Open the Google Drive page and sign in with your Google account.
Click "Create" - "More" - "Google My Maps".
Here you can edit and save routes, make notes on maps, and add layers.
In addition, through Google Drive, you can share maps with friends.