Offline maps are a must for any traveler planning a rental car road trip to a remote scenic destination. There are several free offline maps (e.g., Maps.me) that can be downloaded, but I will compare Offline Maps from Google and Here We Go in this review.
Google Offline Maps
Google Maps has the best coverage of the entire world, which is constantly updated and has a convenient automatic/manual Offline Maps download feature. The auto-update offline maps & auto-download recommended maps (over Wi-Fi only as needed) are enabled by default in the Google Maps App (see image below). You can find it by going to Map settings/Offline map settings.
Google Offline Maps Settings
Procedure to manually download a region in Offline Google Maps
- It is important to first search for directions in a new location (e.g., overseas airport to the hotel) or else the offline maps will simply reveal your existing location.
- After you search for directions to a location, you can go to the settings menu and click on “Offline Maps”.
- Once you are in the Offline Maps menu, you can “select your own map” and manually adjust the region to proceed with the download (see images below).
- All downloaded Offline Maps will be deleted automatically after one year by Google.
Search on your computer and send directions to your phone
- You can also search for the desired destinations on your computer and “send directions to your phone” (see image below).
- You can either email the directions or send them directly to your Google App on your smartphone.
Pitfalls of Offline Google Maps
Offline Google Maps works great when you are starting your journey in an area with data coverage (e.g., cell signal or Wi-Fi signal). Once you start driving the car, your maps will continue uninterrupted (via satellite) even though you lose cellular signal on the way.
Suppose Google directions have ended after you reached your destination (e.g., hike) and there is NO cellular/Wi-Fi signal available in that area. You will have no way to start the directions back to your hotel by using Offline Google Maps and it will simply say “can’t reach the internet” (see image below).
Here We Go Offline Maps
Here We Go Maps has a website (https://wego.here.com) where you can create a “To Do List” that can be saved and accessed from the Here We Go Smartphone App.
Smartphone Here We Go App
The Smartphone Here We Go app is very simple to use and lets you download offline maps for the entire country (see image below).
Complete Offline Navigation
Once you have downloaded the offline map of the country, you can simply start navigation to any desired location while completely offline (see image below).
Maps.me vs Here We Go
They both work completely offline and allow offline map downloads of the countries you are visiting. Maps.me has an advantage over other competitors with extensive trail maps for interested hikers. Maps.me uses open street map data and users can add points of interest like restaurants, cafes, public toilets, ATM’s, banks etc.,
Conclusions
Google Offline Maps falls short of the competition by not being able to initiate navigation when you have no cellular/Wi-Fi signal despite downloading the entire region. Before traveling, I always download the entire offline country map on the Here We Go Android app to avoid surprises. My wife likes Maps.me on her iPhone and likes adding POI while traveling to new places.