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Google Maps for Android Adds Offline Mode

posted by n1 on Thursday November 12 2015, @07:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the there's-a-map-for-that dept.

takyon writes:

Google has updated its Android Maps application with the ability to store offline mapping and location data:

Google has upgraded its Android Maps app so it can provide directions when not connected to the internet. The software also lets devices find businesses' locations, opening hours and telephone numbers while offline. The firm said tourists visiting places outside their mobile subscription plans and people living in emerging markets, where data can be expensive, would be among those who would benefit most.

But one expert said budget-phone owners would now have to juggle data. "Entry-level Android smartphones sometimes only have four gigabytes of onboard storage, making it a precious resource," commented Ben Wood from CCS Insight. [...] Google said downloading most of Greater London would take up 380 megabytes on a device, while storing the San Francisco Bay area would require about 200MB.

It allows you to define a rectangular area specifying the mapping data you want to have available offline. The article mentions that Nokia Maps, now known as Here Maps, has offered a similar feature for years.

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  • (Score: 1) by Shimitar on Thursday November 12 2015, @08:59AM

    by Shimitar (4208) on Thursday November 12 2015, @08:59AM (#262077) Homepage

    I missed the "offline directions" part of the news... which might seem a little bit more "news".

    My previous points still stand, tough, specially because it's not news, but just "changelog".

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  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday November 12 2015, @09:59AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Thursday November 12 2015, @09:59AM (#262086) Homepage

    I missed the "offline directions" part of the news... which might seem a little bit more "news".

    They're not the first to have that feature, either.

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  • (Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Thursday November 12 2015, @02:25PM

    by q.kontinuum (532) on Thursday November 12 2015, @02:25PM (#262146) Journal

    Full disclosure: I work for HERE.

    I missed the "offline directions" part of the news... which might seem a little bit more "news"

    Which is funny, because it is one of the core features of HERE maps which you mentioned :-) BTW: HERE was one of the latest apps entering the Android market, but the company under its previous name is one of the first and best-known to offer map data. It was previously known as Navteq, 2008 bought by Nokia (Nokia Maps/Ovi Maps was available for Symbian phones for some time), and made it to Windows Phone 2011 as one of the few good reasons to want to have a Windows Phone that time. Rebranded to HERE, in 2013, iirc.

    My previous points still stand, tough, specially because it's not news, but just "changelog".

    Ok, then you are right, of course.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by TheRaven on Thursday November 12 2015, @02:49PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Thursday November 12 2015, @02:49PM (#262155) Journal
    OSMAnd has had offline navigation and offline vector maps for years. The vector part is important, as detailed maps for the entire UK are smaller than Google Maps for Greater London. I have a cheap Android phone (Moto G) and have used OSMAnd on it and my previous cheap Android phone (HTC Desire), without hitting any space constraints. I used to have a cheap 8GB SD card in my HTC, which could happily store several countries worth of maps. I don't need to think about adding new maps unless I'm travelling - when I go to a new country then adding the maps to the phone is one of the things that I remember to do, but for travel within a country it's always there. I've not even bothered trying Google Maps for a year and I'm not sure why "Google adds feature that is less good than competitors' version" counts as news.
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    • (Score: 2) by kadal on Thursday November 12 2015, @05:50PM

      by kadal (4731) on Thursday November 12 2015, @05:50PM (#262250)

      Have you had good luck with the navigation? Google Maps' big advantage is the ease of finding what you're looking for.

      • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:27PM

        by TheRaven (270) on Thursday November 12 2015, @06:27PM (#262273) Journal
        Yes, I used the OSMAnd navigation fairly extensively when I moved here. I also tried Google Maps, but it was mostly missing footpaths and cycle paths, and in a couple of places didn't know about one-way streets. I've used OSMAnd in Belgium, France, and four states in the USA in the last year or so without issues, as well as here in the UK. The navigation works well for car, bike, and foot. It's not always the ideal route, but it always gets me to the destination in reasonable time. The offline maps also have POI and address databases, so I can usually enter the address of my destination and find the place that I'm looking for, or scroll to vaguely near my destination and search for (for example) hotels or coffee shops within a small distance and then refine by name, all without Internet access. It probably makes my mobile provider a bit unhappy, as I'd definitely have paid for data roaming on a few trips if it hadn't been working well.
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