Google Maps Offline Capabilities Will Roll Out This Year

Do you ever find yourself feeling frustrated when you want to access your travel route on Google Maps but you don’t have data coverage or Wi-Fi access? Google has made an announcement of a feature that could relieve this problem when it becomes available later this year.

According to a Google spokesperson, the company will be making Google Maps’ search and navigation features available offline. This innovation could make a major difference in the future of travel and it’s an exciting prospect for the massive number of people who use Google Maps to navigate their trips.

“This was influenced by a number of scenarios where access to maps would be useful,” a Google spokesperson told The Huffington Post. “Some examples might include when someone is in a coverage dead-spot in their town or city – for instance a parking garage. Or if someone is traveling to another country and they don’t have a local data plan. Our goal is to make traveling and exploring new places easier for people.”

Almost all of the core features in Google Maps will be able to be used without an internet connection. Users will be able to get turn-by-turn directions, see reviews of venues, and search for places while offline, which will be a very valuable feature in a wide range of scenarios. Being able to look up directions while in a subway or on an airplane, as two examples, will certainly make Google Maps an even more useful tool.

The announcement marks a big change for Google Maps, which currently has over 1 billion users. By adding offline support, its service will become far more valuable, especially in areas of the world where internet connections are either unavailable or slow. The new feature will help Google to keep pace with some of its competitors, such as Nokia Here, which already offers offline support for mapping in over 100 countries.

Although Google didn’t provide information about how many countries will be supported in its offline Google Maps, the company did say that it wants users to be able to “explore the world literally wherever they are.”

“With offline maps, you won’t need to suck down expensive data or have super reliable connectivity every time you want to navigate somewhere,” said Jen Fitzpatrick, Google’s vice president of engineering.

The upcoming offline Google Maps capabilities are somewhat similar to YouTube Offline, in which Google allows users in developing countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, to download and keep YouTube videos on their devices for up to 48 hours.