Google Maps to Get Offline Search and Navigational Support Soon

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Friday, May 29, 2015

Google Maps users will soon be able to get offline search and support from the popular maps app soon.

Google has announced it will be introducing offline search and navigational support for their millions of users around the world with the next iteration of their Google Maps software.

While Google Maps for Android has enjoyed a kind of offline support since December 2010, it hasn't been comprehensive enough for most users. During its latest two-day I/O conference at the San Francisco Moscone Center that began May 28, the American multinational tech giant announced they will be offering better offline support for Maps before the year ends.

The goal, according to Google, is to assist users in developing countries to get access to data where connection services are unreliable, expensive, or both. The new offline features will enable users to use Google Maps despite spotty connections.

The upcoming offline functionality is expected to be released via YouTube's Offline option in Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia, allowing users in those countries to download and store YouTube videos of maps on their handheld devices for up to 48 hours.

Google has also announced it is working on optimizing its Chrome data usage to reduce users' data consumption by nearly 80 percent, as well.

In future, users will be able to navigate places without the benefit of Wi-Fi or a secure device connection, and allow offline searches for various points of interest, supported with an autocomplete feature.

Users will be able to access important information on specific locations, as well as call up reviews for hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations; however, they will still have to initially save their chosen maps on their handheld devices.

GMS Arena writes Google's short presentation on the upcoming maps app iteration will allow offline turn-by-turn voice directions, as well.

While the presentation was light on details, not much is known about how much space the saved offline maps will take on different devices, and whether the upcoming iteration will be released globally at the same time.