How to download google maps on android devices. How to download offline Google Maps on Android Download satellite maps for google offline
Until recently, Google-maps and Yandex-maps belonged to the so-called online navigation – that is, they worked exclusively using the mobile Internet necessary for laying the route and leading along it. Accordingly, even the ability to download maps to the gadget’s memory in advance, which appeared some time ago in Yandex Maps, still did not make navigation offline. Google didn't even have maps to download...
And now detailed offline maps, address search, full route guidance, and other useful information – for example, the opening hours of organizations, their contacts, etc. To take advantage new feature, you need to enter the name of the area, city or region you are interested in in the search bar on Google maps, then select "Download map". And in the main menu of the maps, the item "Downloaded areas" appeared, where you can delete regions and add new ones.
The details of the offline mode "Wheels" were found out from Evgeny Grebennikov, manager of the Google Maps service in Russia:
– What does the user get from the appearance of the offline navigation function?
- Actually, everything that is its well-known pluses! The most obvious thing that lies on the surface is that now you can safely use navigation in roaming without worrying about "golden" megabytes (although to this day there are also local tariffs in which the Internet is secondary and megabytes are expensive). You can also use navigation where the Internet does not work in principle and there is no coverage. mobile networks- and there are still plenty of such places in Russia, despite the fact that our mobile Internet is really one of the fastest, highest quality and cheapest in the world.
If earlier you got into an area where there is no cellular network coverage, then the navigation simply disappeared. And in an area with slow GPRS or sluggish and congested 3G internet, navigation could slow down and “hang”, waiting for a data swap, forcing you to stop on the sidelines, waiting to be resumed. But now this problem is gone - with the advent of offline maps, you immediately start building a route, leave and move without delay using voice prompts, even if the phone is in airplane mode. And as soon as you find yourself in the coverage area of cellular networks, your route will also be automatically adjusted taking into account traffic jams and other relevant traffic factors.
–While Google maps were laying the route and leading along it only when the mobile Internet was connected, offline navigation manufacturers used this fact as their main advantage. Now you've invaded their holy of holies... What can the market for paid navigation software expect? Will he disappear?
- Well, I will not give such global forecasts - it will disappear, it will not disappear ... But their life will definitely become much more complicated. For we offer “in one bottle” the advantages of an always working offline solution and the obvious advantages of online navigation: prompt map updates and effective feedback, which allows you to add information, for example, about traffic jams, predict them in real time, take them into account when laying and operational route correction.
An additional item "Downloaded areas" will appear in the usual side menu of Google maps:
– How are maps downloaded? Will there be a list of regions, as in paid navigation programs?
- The principle is different. What you see on the screen at the moment is downloaded. You scale the area of the map as you need and download it. Though a region of Russia, even a separate city, even a separate street.
The boundaries of the downloaded map are determined by the user:
– What maps are available for download? Are there any restrictions?
– There are no restrictions, which will especially please tourists – you can download any foreign countries, their regions and cities. All will have voice guidance on the route in Russian.
The only caveat is that while offline route guidance is only available for the “Drive” mode, the pedestrian mode will appear in the future. If you are on foot, there are two options: either use the mode with voice prompts for the car, which will lengthen it somewhat (the car cannot drive through many yards, pedestrian zones, etc.), or simply use offline maps as regular card- that is, find a short path purely visually and follow it, referring to the smartphone screen, but without voice prompts.
– Will maps be downloaded to internal memory? Can I choose a download location? And can I then transfer the cards from the internal memory to a flash drive? But what if the internal memory is full or limited on the device?
– While the maps are automatically downloaded to the internal memory, you cannot manually select a storage location or transfer them to the memory card. Yes, it is possible that in some cases the download of maps will fail due to lack of space - the user will either have to clear the memory of the content or delete some previously downloaded maps. But we are aware of the problem of full memory, as well as the low amount of pre-installed memory in many devices. It will be solved - wait a bit.
– What are the downloadable maps?
- They are not too big - for example, a map of Moscow and the region takes about 150 megabytes. I repeat - if you do not have enough space in the memory of your smartphone or tablet, then the maps can be downloaded as needed. For example, if you have a trip to a neighboring region, you can temporarily remove the map of the local.
– The offline navigation feature is a huge project. And its implementation will take some time - according to preliminary data, from two to three weeks. Updates of the map service will come to your phones and tablets gradually - to someone earlier, to someone later, but in the very near future everything will work.
– How to find out about the new service for people who do not follow the latest mobile software and may not even know that “something is being updated” on the phone?
- It's provided! If the maps have already been updated before the appearance of the offline service, then the next time you need to get directions or find something again, you will see a large message pop up on the screen offering to get acquainted with the new feature and first of all download a map of your region. Trust me - don't miss it!
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 the data rate is too low, then offline maps will be used for navigation.
Notes
How to manage offline maps
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 tripsYou 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.
How can Google maps offline help us and how to save parts of the map to our smartphone for use without the Internet, you will learn from today's article.
Google maps online
We are already used to maps on our phone. Moreover, most people use Google maps because it is familiar and convenient. Usually in our habitat, I mean cities, there are no problems with the Internet.
Only in rare places, the mobile Internet signal does not reach our smartphone, but usually these are very small areas where you can’t even get lost, try to find them.
What to do if there is no internet
But what if you need to go to the outback. To the village, to relatives, to go fishing or hunting. Often in remote places, not only there is no Internet, but also mobile communications catch very sporadically. In this case, you can take care of your orientation in advance and download maps of the desired place in advance. And already on the spot we will be able to use the card already without the Internet. How to save Google maps offline read below:
How more area the right area to save, the more we will have to allocate space for them.
Now, when we arrive at our destination, we can perfectly do without any Internet, simply by calling up the saved offline map through the menu. But remember, offline maps will be stored in the smartphone for 30 days, after which the procedure will have to be repeated.
It is difficult to navigate in an unfamiliar place without maps or a navigator - Google Maps solves this problem. But in the same place there may be too slow Internet, which is definitely not enough to fully download the map and build a route.
Offline mode will come to the rescue, allowing you to download a map of the selected area to your device in advance, with all the roads and key points. After that, you can work with Google Maps offline, you only need a GPS connection with a satellite.
To work, you will need the latest version of the Google Maps mobile application, you can download it from the link:
How to save an offline map in Google Maps
The "offline maps" function allows you to download maps of cities and other locations to a memory card or to the device's internal memory. You can do this in the following way:
Pay attention to additional offline settings - you can access them by clicking on the gear in the upper right corner of the screen. In the settings you can find the following functions:
- automatic update of downloaded maps;
- automatic download of maps when a network appears;
- downloading maps only with active Wi-Fi, or using any available networks for this;
- if an SD card is installed in the device, then an additional item "Data storage" will appear in the settings. Here you can choose where to save new areas - to internal memory or to an external SD card.
Rename and delete, update offline Google maps
When you open Google Maps while in a saved area, it will automatically load from your device's memory. At the same time, a notification will appear at the bottom of the screen that you are offline - this is a confirmation that Internet traffic is not being used at the moment.
Saved areas in Google Maps can be renamed to make it easier to navigate the list - to do this, open the offline mode, click on the three vertical dots next to the saved map, and select "Rename".
There you can also delete the downloaded map or update it - under the name of the saved site, the date when this file will be considered obsolete will be indicated.
How much space do saved Google Maps maps take up?
It all depends on the selected area and the number of roads and objects on the map - the larger the coverage, the more significant the file will be. For example, a poorly detailed map of a small town or a selected section of the route will take quite a bit - about 10 mb. At the same time, a high-quality map of Moscow (with a large number of roads and establishments) will require approximately 125 MB on the device.
Remember that the size of the area available for saving in Google Maps is limited: the more cities you try to fit into the rectangle, the smaller it will become. Accordingly, the detailing of the roads will decrease, so it is recommended to save several files covering a smaller area. When moving from one saved area to another, maps will be automatically loaded from the device's memory.
Limitations when using offline maps in Google Maps
Offline mode allows you to build routes in the same way as it happens online. Key differences of offline maps:
- there is no way to build a walking route and upload information about traffic jams;
- the map mode "Relief" and "Satellite" is not available;
- after building a route, there is no way to activate it so that the voice assistant suggests the direction;
- You can't track your location on Google Maps.
Hint: when you activate the satellite mode, the color of the map changes to black and gray - you can use it if you use Google Maps at night.
How quickly saved maps become obsolete
The rate at which maps become obsolete depends on the area you choose to keep. Densely populated areas usually update quite often as new points appear ( public places, roads) that require timely updating. If you mainly keep sections between cities, or small settlements, then an update may be required every few months or even years.
Updating saved maps is as follows:
- The app will notify you if one or more maps need to be updated - just click on this notification, find the outdated map and select "Update"
- Maps can also be updated manually: launch the Google Maps application, go to the "Offline Maps" section, select the saved file in the list and click "Update"
Which areas can be saved for offline use
Any areas supported by the mode are available for saving in Google Maps - during operation, you will see which part of the map can be downloaded to the device. The maximum perimeter available for conservation is about 500 km.
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 are suitable for latest version 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.