14 DAY TRIAL // Google I/O 2015 came and went, and apart from Android M and the new Photos app, we were also treated to a big announcement from the Google Maps team.
As you probably know, Google Maps for Android had some sort of offline support for quite some time, but it wasn’t very good, as opposed to that of competing products like Nokia’s HERE Maps.
Well, taking distinct cues from the competition, Google announced that it was bringing fully fledged offline support for Maps. We should expect to see the functionality out and about before the end of this year.
Emerging markets will get a taste of the new feat first
But there’s a tweak. Google is attempting to offer customers located in emerging markets wider opportunities. So the offline features will first become available in “emerging markets,” where mobile Internet coverage is buggy and data charges more expensive than what people can afford.
So in the immediate future, users of Google Maps will be able to take advantage of offline rerouting during navigation, without the need of a viable Internet connection.
The offline features will also prove to be quite useful for those looking for directions when traveling in the underground metro or while on an airplane.
In addition to that, the new feat will enable travelers to search for places and points of interest, complete with suggestions, as well as reviews, contact numbers, opening hours and such.
At the event, Google demoed the feature on a phone on Airplane mode and it seemed to work without a problem.
You will still have to save the maps you need on your phone, but it nevertheless does bring a lot of convenience to the whole affair. Moreover, Google announced that turn-by-turn voice direction would be available in offline mode as well. Pretty dandy, we’d have to say.
For a bit of history, Google rolled out its offline maps feature back in 2012, but wasn’t particularly useful, to say the least. For example, users were only allowed to save up to six large metro areas.
Last week, the search giant rolled out native Maps app support for Android Wear devices (smartwatches) plus a translucent status bar feat.