The new Google Maps comes with an amazing cards based UI and is very user friendly, but the ability of caching maps for offline viewing isn’t very obvious. Power saving is crucial while traveling and we don’t want to waste power and mobile data on Google Maps. Tablet users usually end up using sinuous ways like using a hotspot or looking for a Wi-Fi network availability just to peek at a map. Luckily Google does not hate its users and soon two methods surfaced that could cache maps seamlessly.
1. “Okay Maps”
The first one is an Easter egg. All you have to do is touch the little microphone button (
) on the right side of the search bar and say “Okay
Maps” or you can just type it in the search box. The application will start caching the on-screen map area, with a notification showing current progress. When the process if
complete, the application displays another notification to indicate the completion of the task.
2. The standard method
The standard method is to tap the search bar and scroll down to the very bottom of the Google Places integration, recent places and other parts of the list. There lies the button saying “Make this map area available offline”. Again, it will trigger the “Pre-loading map..” notification. Once finished you can use Google Maps with or without an internet connection.
You can also use the web-app to get the directions and download them for offline use.
Google Maps | Web
Google Maps | Google Play
Google Maps | App Store
Screenshots edited using Evernote Skitch. All screenshots are taken on Asus Google Nexus 7 2013. HTML Translator – Windows Live Writer.
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