Google Maps enables ‘offline mode’

By Park Sae-jin Posted : November 12, 2015, 10:20 Updated : November 13, 2015, 14:30

"Google Maps" is available in both Android and iOS [Courtesy of Google Official Blog]



“Google Maps”, an application by Google, now supports offline mode. Now its users will be able to use it anywhere – even when they cannot get connected to internet, Google said on Wednesday.

The app, pre-installed in Android smartphones, is one of the most used apps in the world. Smartphone users use the app when searching for how to get to places, looking for a store nearby, navigate on the move.

But the app had a major problem. It was not usable without an internet connection. As Google stated in its official blog, about 60 percent of the world is without internet. When travelling overseas without local data sim card or out in rural areas where there’s no mobile data coverage, it was impossible to use the app.

Google solved the problem by enabling the offline mode. According to Google, Google Maps users can download an area of the world to their smartphone and even without any internet connection, the app will work seamlessly. Navigation, finding places, and all other features will work based on downloaded data.

Map data can be downloaded by searching for a city or a country by simply tapping a few buttons. After that, the app will move into offline mode automatically whenever it can’t get connected to the web.

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