During Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2023, they announced iOS 17 and some of its features. One of the notable additions to this release is the ability to download cities for offline navigation on your iPhone or iPad. Apple Maps now lets you download specific map regions, store them on the device, and use them for navigation in areas with no signal, just like Google Maps.
Downloading cities for offline navigation in Apple Maps on iPhone or iPad
- Launch the built-in Maps app on your iDevice.
- Tap on your profile photo.
- Go to the Offline Maps section.
- Tap the Download New Map button.
- Type the desired city’s name, and tap the relevant result
- Tweak the frame to fit as much or as little of the area.
- Tap the Download button.
- Wait for the city to download. iOS will notify you when it’s done.
- Once it concludes, you can navigate the area even if you don’t have an internet connection.
- To delete a downloaded city, swipe left on it, and press Delete.
Obviously, the larger the region, the larger the download size. You can repeat the process and download as many different regions as you want. What’s also nice is that offline maps aren’t a single static snapshot; they will be automatically updated with the latest changes, when a network is available.
Downloads are done by default only on the WiFi network. You can also change the setting to download via cellular.
Offline Only Mode
With a downloaded map, when no network is available, Apple Maps will use the downloaded map, if available, for your current location. When the Internet is available, Maps always looks for data on the network to integrate information such as real-time traffic.
What are the benefits of Offline Maps on iOS 17?
The Maps app now has one of the most requested features.
- When visiting a new city, country, or region, downloaded Apple Maps come in handy.
- The Offline Map will provide you with turn-by-turn directions.
- It will provide POI (Points Of Interest) information (such as business hours) specific to the location.
- Even in a no-Internet zone, you will never get lost or confused about which direction to move in.
- You can use the offline map on your Apple Watch for efficient navigation. However, you cannot download an offline map using an Apple Watch.
