google maps cache

[_kweso]

hello,
a friend of mine has a iphone. the gps+gmaps is a really nice thing.
but if there is just gps but no 3g or wifi you get your position but
not the map-data around it. so i ask if there is/will be a possibility
to somehow cache map data for google maps. maybe like a function
"save mapdata for a radius of 100miles arround my current location"
or sth like that...
thx

 

[iynCognito]

hello,
a friend of mine has a iphone. the gps+gmaps is a really nice thing.
but if there is just gps but no 3g or wifi you get your position but
not the map-data around it. so i ask if there is/will be a possibility
to somehow cache map data for google maps. maybe like a function
"save mapdata for a radius of 100miles arround my current location"
or sth like that...
thx

there is such a function. Enable it in options or labs, can't remember. Then press and hold on a spot on the map. One of the place options then lets you precache an area of ten mile radius around that spot.

 

[Saltine713]

there is such a function. Enable it in options or labs, can't remember. Then press and hold on a spot on the map. One of the place options then lets you precache an area of ten mile radius around that spot.

It will load the map, but will it let you actually use the directions feature? Or just load the image of the map?

 

[itsallgood]

It will load the map, but will it let you actually use the directions feature? Or just load the image of the map?

That's a good question. I tried this and was able to cache the map, but couldn't figure out how to use it for spoken turn by turn directions. I use "CoPilotLive V8 & 9" for offline mapping. (Works really well, I bought V8 first and then V9 to see which I liked better.)

 

[daveybaby]

The new caching feature of google maps is fantastic - but unfortunately you *cant* use it for turn by turn navigation.

The routes arent calculated by your phone, theyre calculated by google's servers. This is because in order to calculate a route, the algorithms really need access to the entire map, not just the cached area. Sounds stupid, but it's true. You have no way of guaranteeing that the route is always completely within the 10 mile cached area, even if the start and end points are both inside it.

If its data usage youre worried about, the amount of data transfer when planning and receiving a route is tiny (though obviously this doesnt help if you have no data connection at all).

But yeah, if you really need to be able to plan routes offline, you need to get a dedicated satnav app, which has all of the maps permanently stored on your SD card, so your phone can do the calculations.