The vast majority of Android phones sold in Europe already come with one of the most essential applications: Google Maps. For millions of people, it is the best method to find a route and receive step-by-step instructions to get there, whether in the car with Android Auto or directly on your mobile.
But what more and more people are discovering is that Google Maps is also available for smartwatchesand they are taking advantage of it. This version of the app is a little more limited than the smartphone version, but not by much; most of the basic features, such as search or turn-by-turn navigation, are already available. And in the latest update, it even offers offline maps.
As they discovered in 9to5GoogleThe Google Maps app for Wear OS is being updated with the ability to download maps to use on the watch offline. This way, it would not be necessary to carry the mobile phone with you for the watch to obtain the map information, nor to use mobile connectivity (if the watch has it).
Most watches sold in Europe only have WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity; for example, the new Pixel Watch 3 will only be available in this way, although in other countries there is a version with 4G connectivity. This means that The watch depends on the connection with the mobile
With the latest news, Google Maps for Wear OS It will automatically download the map of the area we are in when you have an internet connection, so you can use it when you lose the connection. This will allow us to leave home without our mobile phone and continue using Google Maps without problems, for example. The application will allow us to manage the saved maps, delete those we do not need and thus save storage space.
At the moment, there does not seem to be any possibility to download the map of an area that we want to visit; The process is automatic, the watch detects our position and automatically downloads the map. What can be very useful is the function that automatically synchronizes with Google Maps for mobile, download the maps that are in the mobile memory; Therefore, a “trick” can be to download a map to your mobile so that it automatically synchronizes with the watch.
For now, the Pixel Watch are the first watches to receive this feature, but everything indicates that the rest of the Wear OS-based devices should also receive the update that enables offline maps.