Google has created offline maps for the Android platform. The strategy behind Google Maps offline for Android is to provide navigational search and directions in locations were data is expensive or nonexistent - about 60% of the world has no Internet, according to Google.
What about coverage in villages and remote areas where data would cost the most? And when you are traveling to a country that applies exorbitant roaming chaarges. The emerging world will derive the most benefit from the new and improved Google Maps offline for Android phones.
This is Google's answer to easy accessibility for Maps, making it available offline for Android phone users who have slow Internet that cause disruption of Google's services. Google maps even provide search directions in offline memory.
For instance, it would take 300 MB to cover all of greater London Google maps, according to BBC news. Looking at from another angle, San Francisco on Google Maps would require about 200 MB.
One disadvantage users may run into is using up the Android phone's memory. Some basic Smartphone's have just 400 MB of memory for storage.Using memory for videos and images can take up space and downloading Google Maps offline data for Androids could eat up memory for other apps and stored content. This is going to be a trade-off since Google users would have to prioritize for the Maps app and forego other required applications.
"Whereas before you could simply view an area of the map offline, now you can get turn-by-turn driving directions, search for specific destinations, and find useful information about places, like hours of operation, contact information or ratings, said Google's blog.
What Google has done is to streamline Maps so all updates are inline with normal conditions, while more accurate navigation like precise weather projections and accident data are incorporated online.
"Google Maps happened to be really slow or completely unusable in many scenarios due to limited mobile internet, said Amanda Bishop in a BBC news report.
"Users now don't have to do all that screenshot jujitsu before they leave (in case they lose access) and there's much faster load times for search and driving directions."
