Apple’s Maps app has a significant new characteristic in iOS 17: offline maps. With offline maps, you’ll be able to obtain designated areas out of your Maps app onto your iPhone. That approach you’ll be able to entry maps when you do not have a cell sign or if you wish to lower your expenses by not utilizing your knowledge.
However how properly do offline maps work? To seek out out, I downloaded a map of my hometown and used it to get round for a few days. My spouse and I went to get espresso downtown earlier than strolling to an outside market, we drove again to our residence and went again downtown for dinner after an NFL recreation ended. I additionally used offline maps to drive to and from my gymnasium, in addition to to stroll my canine across the neighborhood.
Here is how one can entry offline maps, and what to learn about them.
The right way to obtain a map to make use of offline
It may be a good suggestion to have a map of an unfamiliar space, like a brand new city or mountain climbing path, in case you do not have Wi-Fi entry or a cell sign. So this is how one can obtain a map to make use of offline.
1. Open the Maps app.
2. Discover the realm you need to obtain a map for and lengthy press on the realm. A pin ought to drop in your display screen.
3. Faucet Obtain alongside the underside of your display screen.
A top level view will seem over your map. This define represents the realm which you’ll obtain a map for. You’ll be able to resize this map till you are glad after which faucet Obtain to start out downloading the map. A banner will announce when your map is completed downloading.
Here is how one can entry your offline maps settings web page after you have downloaded them.
Whenever you use offline maps, you may see a banner throughout the highest of your Maps app.
1. Open the Maps app.
2. Faucet your profile image within the bottom-right nook of your display screen.
3. Faucet Offline Maps.
From right here, you’ll be able to entry settings like including a brand new offline map and a change to set Maps to solely use offline maps. For those who toggle the change to solely use offline maps, you may see Utilizing Offline Maps throughout the highest of your map. You’ll be able to faucet this to get again to the offline maps settings web page, too.
Offline maps will get you there, however anticipate a couple of points
Utilizing offline maps was just like utilizing the Maps app when on-line. You open your Maps app, sort in the place you need to go and hit Go. You may as well choose your mode of transportation and whether or not you need to add any stops alongside the way in which.
Whenever you’re on the highway, offline maps act just like on-line maps. The map follows you and reveals close by eating places and companies. For those who’re driving, offline maps can even present you the pace restrict for the road you are on. Siri will learn off instructions the entire approach, telling you when to show and the place your vacation spot is on the road.
Offline maps reveals you ways lengthy it is going to take you to drive to your vacation spot based mostly on predicted visitors, not real-time visitors.
Nonetheless, there are a couple of variations between offline and on-line maps. The most important concern is it will not know precisely whenever you’ll get to your vacation spot. Whenever you search for instructions, offline maps will show an estimated time of arrival, however it will possibly’t have in mind real-time visitors patterns because it’s offline.
After I used offline maps to seek out my approach to a downtown restaurant after an NFL recreation, for instance, offline maps informed me it might take me about quarter-hour to get to my vacation spot. In actuality, it ended up taking me about 40 minutes to battle via visitors and get to dinner.
That results in my second concern with offline maps: For those who veer off its path, it takes awhile to recalibrate and discover you once more. When getting via the visitors talked about above, I took a couple of impromptu turns down facet streets and offline maps nonetheless confirmed me the place I turned off the trail for a minute or so.
In any other case, offline maps take issues again to the times of bodily maps. You could not be capable to predict how a lot visitors will delay your drive, and should you take a flawed flip it’d take you a second to determine how one can get again, however you may get to your vacation spot… finally. Pack some snacks simply in case.
For extra, take a look at my iOS 17 evaluate, the iOS 17 cheat sheet and how one can obtain the most recent working system.