For some time now, the possibility of saving maps and being able to access in offline mode it is available in the desktop version but almost exclusively in the United States. The new update that the Google maps application for iOS has received finally allows you to download city maps from various countries, to be able to consult them later on any other device that we have previously synchronized. The first thing we have to do is update our application to the latest version available through the App Store.
Below we indicate the steps you must follow to download the maps of the cities that you are going to visit soon to be able to access it in offline mode without having to resort to a Wi-Fi or 3G connection.
- Once we have opened the application, we place ourselves in the search box located at the top left of the screen and write the city for which we want to obtain the maps to access it in offline mode. click on the name of the city displayed just below the search box.
- A kind of file of the city that we have selected will be displayed. We go to the right side of the screen just below the Street View image and click on Save map for offline use.
- The map of the city we are looking for will appear again. If the view we are seeing is too wide, a sign will appear in the upper left where it tells us that we must delimit the area that we want to save to dispose offline.
- As we get closer to the area that we want to save and when possible, the application will show us, in the search area, a sign indicating Save this map? We go to the lower box that indicates Save and the map will begin to download.
- The application will ask us to let's write the name of the map we want to save. By default, the name of the city that we want to save will appear. If it is to our liking, click on Save. Otherwise we can write the name that best suits our needs.
- At the top of the map, where the search box is located, a message will appear indicating the percentage of map that the application has already saved on our device.
- Once the map has been downloaded, the percentage will be complete showing 100%, along with a validation arrow, which we must press to re-enter a new search in the application.
Now that we've downloaded our first map, we'd like to know how we can access it. We have to go back to the search box and click on the half-person icon that is displayed at the end of the search box. We went to the section offline maps and click on the map that we have just saved. To do the test, it is recommended that you put the device in airplane mode, to verify that it has been saved correctly. If everything went well, the map of the area of Mexico City that we have defined should be displayed, where we can zoom in and out, as if we had internet access and were using the application normally.
To manage the downloaded maps, we must go to the option See all and manage. A new window will be displayed showing the Offline Maps that we have downloaded. By clicking on the three vertical dots, three options will appear: Rename, Update and Delete.
Not all countries have the possibility to download the maps. In Spain it is not possible because Google has not obtained permission from the National Geographic Institute (IGN), who provides the data to Google. Nor has it obtained permission from TeleAtlas, another company that also provides maps of Spain to Google. Nor can they be downloaded from Colombia, Santiago de Chile or Argentina. However, you can download maps of cities in Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay. It is a pity that some countries have not reached an agreement with Google to facilitate downloading in offline mode, since this application is undoubtedly one of the best to travel without getting lost.
