Apple has been testing iOS 17 through beta, and with the announcement of iOS 17, there is a significant upgrade to Apple Maps. Users can now download maps offline, so they can be used without an active internet connection. This has been one of the most anticipated features for a long time, as it is always one of the most useful, especially when we don’t have an active internet connection in remote areas.
You can only sometimes rely on online maps, as there are still a lot of places where cellular connectivity is not available, such as cellular dead spots, especially on some highways and suburban areas. Once you download the offline maps on Apple Maps, you can use the maps even with your Apple Watch running watchOS 10. This is currently in beta and will be rolled out with the launch of iOS 17. Today, in this article, we will share an in-depth guide on downloading maps offline on Apple Maps so you can use them to navigate even without internet connectivity.
Why Use Apple Maps Offline?
Undoubtedly, this is one of the most-awaited features, and there are several perks to using offline maps. If you go somewhere and are unsure if you will have internet connectivity, it’s best to download the offline maps so you can access them in those situations.
Apart from this, Offline Maps on Apple Maps still offer the necessary features and consume less data than online maps. They have familiar navigation, unrestricted exploration, access to points of interest, and remain compatible with the Apple Watch. They even work in Aeroplane mode because they are stored locally on your device and don’t require an active internet connection.
How to Download and Use Apple Maps Offline
First, to use this feature, you must run iOS 17 on your iPhone device and have updated to the latest version of Maps.
- Open Apple Maps and tap on your profile, which appears at the bottom of the screen next to the search maps box.
- A pop-up menu will appear. Tap on Offline Maps.
- Next, choose “Download New Maps” based on your location.
When you choose “Download New Maps,” it will show a box you must adjust to select which part of the map you prefer to download. You can choose your current location or where you have recently searched.
- Use a pinch to zoom in or out. Once you have selected a range on the map, depending on your preference, use the different crop orientations. Simply tap on “Download.”
Additionally, users can download a specific area of Apple Maps on their iPhone and use the offline maps offline. All necessary features like directions, walking, cycling, and public transit will remain accessible. The best thing is that users don’t have to wait for maps to load. If you want to download other places, you can also name other regions in the same steps.
While downloading the map, there are a few other options that you can adjust, such as whether you want to download the map via Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi and cellular and want it to update automatically. After downloading the offline map, you can resize it, change the name, or delete it.
Note: Even after downloading the offline map, some features are unavailable with the Apple Offline Map, such as the 3D view of the city and the real-time electric vehicle charging stations. Those features will only work if you are connected to the internet. This may be because those views require a lot of storage compared to others. As for the real-time electric vehicle charging station, you need internet access to gather the necessary information from the cloud.
Enable offline-only mode on Apple Maps.
Once you download the maps, you can also enable offline maps from the Apple Maps settings. By allowing “Only use offline maps,” it won’t connect to the internet even if you are connected.
- Open Apple Maps.
- Next, tap on the profile picture in the bottom-right corner next to the search box.
- In the Settings section, toggle to enable “Only use Offline Maps.”
- That’s it!
Note: Enabling this will have an impact on your viewing experience. For example, it won’t provide real-time traffic information. You can also delete the map if you no longer want the offline maps in Offline Maps.
This is a welcome feature that Apple users will really appreciate. Google has had the Offline Maps feature on Android devices with cross-platform support for years. With the introduction of Apple Offline Maps, this is going to benefit a lot of people, and finally, Apple is catching up with Google Maps.
The public release of iOS 17 with Apple Maps Offline support will happen later this year for iPhone Xs and newer devices. Currently, it’s in Developer Beta, and this is how you can use and download the offline maps on Apple Maps. This is a straightforward method; you can download as many offline maps as you want from your Apple Maps.
As mentioned, you can’t directly download the Offline Maps on Apple Watch, but you can access them via watches running watchOS 10. Downloading maps does consume storage. It could take from 500 MB to 2GB of storage, depending on the size of the area on the map you have downloaded.
