Google is making life easier for everyone with their newer and brighter ideas. In the new version of the Google Maps app for Android, they have added a new feature for downloading maps for offline use. This is very useful for tourists or travelers who can download the map of a particular region and then use them even when there is no network signal or WiFi available. But you cannot download the map of an entire city, you can download the map of only a selected small region.
Here is how you can download maps for offline use in the official Google Maps app:
- Update Google Maps app to the latest version. Launch the app and search for any location. Then tap somewhere on the map to pin that location. After you have pinned the location, you will see new options near the bottom edge – select More Info from here.
- On the next screen that appears, tap on the Download icon.
- Select the region on the map for which you want to download the offline map and tap Download to start the download.
- Once the download is complete, you can access the downloaded offline maps even when you are not connected to the internet. For this, launch the Google Maps again, pull down the menu and select Offline Maps from there.
- Select one of the offline maps displayed in the list. Tap on the map to view it. You can use this offline map like you do the online version of Google Maps – but you will be limited only to the selected region.
For using the offline downloaded maps, you must enable the GPS location feature of Android – even when you are offline (no WiFi and no mobile network signal). Also, the offline maps must be updated every 30 days before they expire and are no longer available.