Google Maps Goes Offline, Complete With Turn-By-Turn Directions

This will mean that as long as I own a 7 inch tablet I won't ever have to buy a new Garmin.

I've been waiting for this to happen for so long. Good job, Google!

The Google Map is the #1 data user on my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and I only used it a couple of times.

Can't wait to see how it works!!

While I'm certainly going to check out the off-line Google offering when and if it is ever available, I didn't wait for this and you don't need to either. While I checked out "HERE" and was very disappointed (lag was so bad that it showed I was still approaching intersections long after I passed them, and did this on multiple devices with "no other" applications running), I'm pretty happy with MapFactor, which uses free Open Street Maps. (and doesn't suffer from the above problem on the same devices even with other apps actively running). Of course, you are likely to find things in any app that you like and things that you don't. But you don't need to wait to see the Google off-line offering to start using that 7 inch tablet.

There is also a well publicized "hack" that lets you store some Google Maps data for off-line use, but it is limited, would work in your city (or just about any city) but maybe not for cross country trips. Just search for "google maps hack" or “Okay Maps”.

For MapFactor see: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapfactor....

The key word you used was hacked, perhaps the reason for the lag
Just saying!

I used the word hack, not hacked, and I used it in a completely different reference. Google already had a way to cache and retain some data for Google maps and use it off line. But it is clunky and considered a "hack" by many (even Google). Just mentioned it because some wanting to use Google Maps off-line might want to play with it.

As for "Here", I documented my experiences with it pretty clearly in another thread. At the time I tested it, it failed miserably on several different devices including a Lenovo tablet and a very high end Tegra 7 tablet, as well as Android phones. Nothing was "hacked". As I'm happy with MapFactor and I found Here to be complete crap, I have not continued waste time on it, so I don't know if they have fixed the lag issue or not. However, I don't care to hear about that from you, as the comprehension exhibited in your post to me leaves me to doubt that you really understand the problem.

Justify it however you like, a work around is a hack. I'll wait for the official release to make a judgment on how good it works or lags.
Since we are not supposed to talk about hacks in community, I have nothing more to say about it.

"kludge /ˈkluːdʒ/ Also kluge. [J. W. Granholm's jocular invention: see first quot.; cf. also bodge v., fudge v.][2]
'An ill-assorted collection of poorly-matching parts, forming a distressing whole' (Granholm); esp. in Computing, a machine, system, or program that has been improvised or 'bodged' together; a hastily improvised and poorly thought-out solution to a fault or 'bug'. "

But how are you going to attach it to the top of your dash? I hear 18" gutter spikes work pretty good... even though they detract from the installation.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

http://www.amazon.com/Arkon-Windshield-Dashboard-Samsung-Mid...

I don't know whether Google Maps offline will do what they say. Once it comes out we can have another discussion.

More than two years ago Google first offered offline maps. I downloaded several map tiles on a wifi tablet for a trip to Italy and stored a number of favorite locations. Navigation was not offered offline, but you got a detailed map and the tablet GPS showed your location on the map. This was tried in the U.S. with the Italy map tiles and the wifi turned off, and it worked as advertised.

In Italy, with a wifi connection on, the detailed map could be seen but the favorites had disappeared. When walking away from the wifi the detailed map also disappeared, leaving what I assume was the base map. Land and water could be seen with different background colors and the streets were unnamed single lines. Completely useless!

It remains to be seen if Google can deliver on its promise.

dobs108

As Google Maps has had the ability to download maps for offline use for quite some time, I am assuming the feature they are adding is navigation. In fact, just this week I was prompted to update my offline maps as they had not been downloaded in a while. I like this feature as I rarely if ever use cellular data. Opting for WiFi instead. It does make it impossible to use Waze to notify others of traffic conditions.

It sounds so great...but nothing ever is....

Google maps are usually more up to date than Garmin. Could it be the end to the GPS?

For us it will depend on what the requirements are for the smartphone app. We have relatively modest Moto G (1st Gen) phones with just 8GB of memory (and not all of that is available for apps) with no expansion card either. So if the offline app eats a lot of memory we might be out of luck

If that was the case I pity the people here that have nothing else better to do than wait and wait for the quarterly map release and be among the first to download, they may have to start playing Parcheesi instead of creating or posting on endless posts.

I heard Parcheesi will be available on Google Maps like PacMan as long as the street grid is suitable. No word on whether it can be played offline...

dobs108

Google has great map info and live traffic info, but the navigation interface is a disaster.
I really need a feature of current speed/speed limit

Some of our members here use the current speed function as a speedometer, so I can see the benefit of having the current speed. The speed limit is not always accurately displayed on a dedicated GPSr like Garmin. Google probably won't do any better.

You'll want to look in the Play Store for other GPS apps that will fulfill your needs, because Google navigation is intended to be rather basic. Current speed and the speed limit apparently don't fit Google's intent.

cant wait to see this

Because my phone overheats when using it for car navigation.

Google definitely have more accurate speed limit info than anybody else. They get speed limit info from street view photos. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsbLEtS0uls

They other thing would be very helpful, but never seen on any GPS device/app is calculating(or at least estimating) the toll costs when planning routes. I don't always take tolls, and I would like to see how much time would be saved and what's the cost before making the choice.

Then you need to be cogzinant of variable tolls... Some tunnels / bridges / roads based on time of day, day of week, Holliday or snot and yes, there are some that actually fluctuate based on amount of traffic...

well, an estimated $ is good enough. Or I could take a min and max range if that's too hard to estimate. Retrieving toll amount info cannot be harder than live traffic, correct?

sorry being too nerdy

That's awesome! FINALLY! I've always loved Google Maps, but hated that it used data. (Well, after they did away with true unlimited data plans...)

Pumped to see this. Used this a while for test purposes.

Can't wait to see if it would be better than a GPS. What will happen to Garmin if it works well. Do we see a tomb stone in its future.

I think the handwriting has been on the wall for a long time. Standalone GPS units are on borrowed time. As the mobile internet becomes more and more ubiquitous, and gets more functionality in more places the need for a standalone GPS is diminishing.

Now if Google can get the maps functionality to work when a decent internet connection is unavailable, that'll be the nail in the coffin of standalone GPS units.

It's no wonder Garmin is into fitness trackers. I just bought one to replace my flawed fitbit. A Garmin Vivofit. I haven't tried it yet, but I am sure that's where Garmin sees their future.

I'll definitely give it a spin.

I've been a solid Garmin fan for decades ....

But, wow, if Google pulls this off ... and is "free" or fairly cheap, well, I might have to rethink my thinking.

I love Google almost as much as I love Garmin.

Garmin also has a large lucrative high dollar market in the Airplane and Boat electronics and navigation equipment that they have been manufacturing for quite a while and are very popular in those markets.

It's now 4 months later since the first poting and nothing yet !

whats the catch on this one??

Just looked up Google offline maps and as of right now, this is what I found:

Tip: The biggest size for an offline map is 50km x 50km. If you try to save an area bigger than that, you'll be asked to zoom in to a smaller area.

As far as I can see absolutely useless except for a small area of 30 miles by 30 miles. Will NOT replace a GPS !

I can find nothing. The maps still have to be downloaded in small areas. Google has done nothing yet.
Also. Saved places can only be seen if on line.

That "offline" feature has been available for several years. This thread is talking about a full blown offline feature which I think is not yet available as of now.

Execution is the hard part.

Yes, the small area map download was already available for quite some time.

I think the map download that will be available will be for large areas of the continent similar to what already is available with the HERE app map downloads.

No progress on this at all, I presume.

I always use Here. It seems to work as well as google and the download by state is simple and effective.

when is this feature coming? so does this means we can download entire world maps through google?

When Google made this announcement they said it should be available later this year. So I hope soon because the year is almost over.

Consider how large Garmin maps are when you download them. Well over 3-GB for North America. Storage space is still precious on mobile devices, and somehow Apple still sells a 16 GB version and charges a bunch of money to upgrade to 32 or 64 GB.

Any map that will be useful for areas out of mobile internet range will need to be stored on the device. My current device would require me to delete a lot of apps and media to fit map data, so I won't be giving up the GPS yet. I think eventually phones will be hardened to be shock and weather resistant enough, and have enough memory to support map data.

Apple certainly holds a gun to your head to get a phone with significant memory, but that is not universal.

My Android phone - which is several years old - has a 16GB microUSB card installed, and I could have easily put in a significantly larger card for relatively little money. The only reason I did not is that I saw no need to do so.

I have the GPS apps from both TomTom and Co-Pilot installed on the phone, each with its own map of the entire US, along with a number of other types of apps, and I still have adequate free memory. If I find myself running out of memory I can just double or quadruple the memory with the installation of an inexpensive larger microUSB card

- Tom -

Apple is beginning to piss me off nearly as much as they did when PC computers were open source and Apple kept costing more money for what should be cheap stuff.

Absolutely, the memory of iPhones, as well as cost is getting to be a huge turn-off.

I feel like if I used my phone or tablet for this, it would take an immense amount of data storage. Perhaps if google maps trimmed the fat and only included the essentials?

That's great. However, I will wait and see. I am still not happy that Google Maps took away its find "nearby" feature. Google keeps on changing features that its users want. I have use MapQuest for this feature.

This is good news

I discovered this years ago and asked google about it. Apparently its an arbitrary decision by them. My plan was to use any old android phone for travel. All I needed was an offline map and a GPS, don't need the data connection.

It would create a use for all those old android phones which aren't secure in the least bit.

Option to download just the state vs whole country would work for me. Along with POIs, have schedule to update the map(s) to contain latest POIs.

However this will be a massive hit to the standalone GPSr manufacturers. Almost everyone carries a phone in their pocket.