Google Maps Offline Area - Does google use offline data even when i'm online to reduce data usage?

[ahmed24]

The new Google maps allows offline areas. However, the expiry in 30 days is a huge disappointment. We should be able to choose or prompted to update the map rather than expiring. I'm using Maps on a Tablet that's permanently installed in a car and therefore WiFi isn't always available. I have to park right outside the house to pickup wifi, so currently every 30 days it seems i have to keep doing this. Even if the data expires, it would be really good to be able to still use it but with a prompt reminding you to connect to wifi and update.

My questions are:

1. My nexus is rooted, so wondering if there is any third party options to prevent it from expiring?

2. Does anyone know exactly what happens when the 30 days expiry is up, and if i don't connect to wifi? Does the offline area delete itself?

3. I've downloaded an area and then switched mobile data off and I am able to successfully search and use the map. However, the map does say I am offline and traffic info will not be available which is fine. I have a sim card with 200MB per month and was hoping to use this only for live traffic as 200MB is nowhere near enough for live maps. So the question is, when I go back online, is Google Maps using data for from the offline stored data and just using data for traffic or is it using Internet for the data and traffic regardless of my offline data? If that's the case the that makes the offline data pretty useless because then it's not really saving data. Is there any particular way to test if this works?

Many thanks

 

[beagle82]

That's a very good question. Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that, but would highly recommend Nokia Here maps in the play store. You can download regions and use them completely offline. Started using them recently and I don't see myself using Google maps too often anymore.

 

[ahmed24]

That's a very good question. Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that, but would highly recommend Nokia Here maps in the play store. You can download regions and use them completely offline. Started using them recently and I don't see myself using Google maps too often anymore.

Does HereMaps have live traffic? Last time i tried using HereMaps, it didnt have option to go landscape.

 

[beagle82]

Yes it does have live traffic. If you are browsing the map, it won't go landscape. But if you select "drive" it will rotate.

 

[ahmed24]

Yes it does have live traffic. If you are browsing the map, it won't go landscape. But if you select "drive" it will rotate.

Awesome, i've downloaded Here maps and trying it out. One question, I do have a data sim so data is available. In HERE maps, I have to go and select "Go Offline" to use offline mode. Only problem I see is that if I go offline, then traffic information will not really be available. So the question is, if i download lets say the United Kingdom Maps for Offline viewing but I stay online all the time for traffic info, will HERE maps use data just for traffic information as it already has the data downloaded or will it use data for maps and traffic regardless of whether it has data or not.

 

[beagle82]

I would assume so. Never bothered to check though. So i checked their website and found this below:

Hybrids: offline maps plus live traffic and transit info

Just because HERE offers an offline mode doesn’t mean you need to use it completely offline. It’s possible to download maps to your phone, offering super-fast loading times, while at the same time benefitting from online features, like real-time traffic and transit updates, too.

If you’d rather stay offline at any cost though, simply tap the menu button and check the ‘Use app offline’ box. You won’t get real-time updates, but you will be still able to search for places, plan routes, get turn-by-turn navigation and even transit connection (without timetables).