Google released an updated version of Google Maps for Android today, and while the company made a big fuss about a new feature that tells you when you’ve reached your stop on a bus, there’s another feature tucked away in the app which is at least as cool.

You can now download maps to your device so you can look up locations, get directions, or even use navigation even when you have no internet connection.

Here’s how to enable the feature:

  1. Open Google Maps.
  2. Tap the menu button on your device.
  3. Select “More.”
  4. Choose the “Labs” option.
  5. Scroll down until you see “Pre-cache map area” and tap the download icon.

Now you can download maps for a 10 mile area surrounding any point on the map. Just open a location page for any spot on the map, click the “More” button and scroll down until you see “Download map area.”

If you want to free up space on your device you can delete saved maps by tapping your phone’s menu button, choosing “Cache Settings,” and then going into the Downloaded map  areas to delete existing maps. You can also rename maps from this screen.

You can download the latest version of Google Maps from the Android Market.

via Android Central

Brad Linder

Brad Linder is editor of Liliputing and Mobiputing. He's been tinkering with mobile tech for decades and writing about it since...

2 replies on “Google Maps 5.7 lets you download maps for offline use”

  1. Downloaded the latest version of Maps but the option to “Download map area” isn’t there. I have version 5.10.0.

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