In the event you’re occurring a Fourth of July journey, you may wish to plan to make use of yours iPhone Maps utility for instructions. Utilizing the app for lengthy intervals can eat up your month-to-month information. Thankfully, when Apple launched iOS 17 in September, the tech big introduced offline maps to your iPhone. With offline maps, you may mark areas that you simply wish to obtain from the Maps app to your iPhone to be used in an emergency or to maintain the app from messing up your mobile information. Earlier than you begin utilizing this function, you could surprise how nicely it really works.
To search out out, I downloaded a map of my hometown and navigated it for a few days. My spouse and I went downtown for espresso earlier than going to the out of doors market, drove house, and got here again downtown for dinner after the NFL sport. I’ve additionally used offline playing cards to drive to and from the fitness center and stroll the canine across the neighborhood.
Here is how one can entry out-of-network playing cards and what you’ll want to learn about them earlier than you stroll out the door.
The best way to obtain a map for offline use
It may be a good suggestion to have a map of an unfamiliar space, comparable to a brand new metropolis or mountain climbing path, in case you do not have entry to Wi-Fi or cell service. Here is how one can obtain a map for offline use.
1. Open it Playing cards addition.
2. Discover the realm you wish to obtain the map for and lengthy press on the realm. A pin ought to fall in your display.
3. Click on Obtain on the backside of the display.
A top level view will then seem above your map representing the realm you’re downloading the map for. You possibly can resize this define till you are comfortable, then click on Obtain. A banner will seem when the map obtain is full.
Here is how one can entry the offline maps settings web page after downloading them.
In the event you’re utilizing offline maps, you may see a banner on the high of the Maps app.
1. Open the Maps app.
2. Contact the profile picture approx Search on maps bar.
3. Click on Offline playing cards.
4. Contact the cardboard you wish to use.
From right here you may entry settings comparable to map updates and the “Use offline maps solely” toggle on the backside of the web page. If you flip this change on, you will notice Use of offline playing cards on the high of your card while you use it. You possibly can then click on this banner to return to the offline maps settings web page as nicely.
Offline maps will get you to your vacation spot, however count on just a few challenges
Utilizing offline maps was just like utilizing the Maps app on-line. You open the Maps app, sort in the place you wish to go, and click on Go. You can too select the mode of transport and whether or not you wish to add stops alongside the best way.
If you’re on the go, offline playing cards work equally to on-line playing cards. The map follows you and exhibits close by eating places and companies. If you’re driving, offline maps may even present you the velocity restrict for the road you are on. Siri will learn instructions all through the journey, telling you when to show and the place the vacation spot is on the road.
Offline maps will present you the way lengthy it can take you to get to your vacation spot primarily based on predicted site visitors, not real-time site visitors.
There are a number of variations between offline and on-line playing cards. The largest drawback is that it will not know precisely when you’ll attain your vacation spot. If you’re in search of instructions, offline maps will present an estimated time of arrival, however they cannot take note of real-time site visitors as a result of it is offline.
For instance, after I used offline maps to seek out my solution to a restaurant downtown after an NFL sport, the offline maps instructed me it will take me about quarter-hour to get to my vacation spot. In actuality, it took me about 40 minutes to beat the site visitors and get to lunch.
This results in my second drawback with offline maps: if you happen to stray from its path, it takes some time to recalibrate and discover you once more. When crossing the site visitors jam talked about above, I took just a few impromptu turns down facet streets and the offline maps confirmed me the place I had turned off the highway for a minute or so.
In any other case, offline maps will carry all the pieces again to the times of bodily maps. You may not be capable of predict how a lot site visitors will delay your journey, and if you happen to take a flawed flip, it would take you a second to determine get again, however you can get to your vacation spot…finally. Pack snacks simply in case.
For extra Apple information, listed here are the options at iOS 17.5 and our iOS 17 cheat sheet. You can too test obtain the second iOS 18 developer beta now and why you may not wish to set up it but.
