When asked to name my favorite travel apps, my list is sure to include TripIt, AwardWallet and Currency. Another app that I will usually mention is one that isn’t just for travel, it’s used by many everyday.
Google Maps is such a useful app that I haven’t turned my regular GPS on in years besides the times I borrowed a map chip to use it around Europe and during our trip to the Middle East Gulf States.
In May of 2014 I wrote about some intereting Google Maps app updates.
I just came across some news of a new feature from the Google Maps app which can benefit us when we don’t have an internet connection.
The Google Maps app will now let us save directions offline!
When I first read about this, I assumed the main purpose was to help those of us using the app that do not have an internet connection but that’s not really the case…
According to Mashable, “In a push to make Google Maps more relevant in developing markets with limited internet service, Google began rolling out offline navigation to its Android app Tuesday with the feature coming soon for iOS”.
With the new update, we’ll be able to “download navigation and location information over Wi-Fi to be used later…” This definitely sounds like it could be quite useful during future trips.
Mashable also mentions that “users can download all of the data for a specific area“. So while I’m interested in this upgrade due to the value of navigation, there will also be info about local stores and restaurants, too.
The downloads will need to be done over Wi-Fi since the data can take up as much as 375 megabytes.
Downloading off-line directions is simple. All you need to do is “search for a city, county or country and press the download icon on the pull-up menu”.
I look forward to the new feature coming to Google Maps for iOS soon and definitely plan to try it out then.
What do you think of this new option from Google Maps?
Find out more from Mashable here.
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