Do you use Google maps regularly? Personally, I do. It makes navigation very easy especially for someone like me who is always on the move all over the city. You may be called to a meeting and may not be sure where the meeting place is and how exactly to access it. In such situations, having Google Maps saves you a lot of time.
Google Maps has always needed an active data connection when you need to use its search feature or navigation. This is all changing as Google is bringing offline search and directions feature to its Android app first before making it available to its iOS app.
In a statement, Google said,
“Now you can download an area of the world to your phone, and the next time you find there’s no connectivity—whether it’s a country road or an underground parking garage—Google Maps will continue to work seamlessly. Whereas before you could simply view an area of the map offline, now you can get turn-by-turn driving directions, search for specific destinations, and find useful information about places, like hours of operation, contact information or ratings.”
Making it possible for users to use search and navigations features when offline will settle well with most people who do not want to spend a ton of cash on data.
Google went ahead to say,
“Roughly 60 percent of the world is without Internet today, and even where online access is available, it can still be spotty. That means that quick and easy access to information is still not possible for a majority of the population. This is a huge problem, especially as people attempt to navigate and explore the world around them, so Google Maps is taking steps to help people across the globe find directions and get where they’re going, even when they don’t have an Internet connection.”
Offline mode will be automatically opened if you happen to be in an area of the map that you have downloaded and you happen to lose your data connection. If you get your connection back, Google will alert you on that.
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