Oct 19, 2014 Nothing comes close to the offline navigation capablities of Here Maps. Here is an app that provides offline maps Maps+ Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States) You should go to Here.com and add POI which will not only help yourself but also others around you using those maps.
Apr 02, 2013 Windows Phone 8 offers the ability to download Bing maps for offline use, which can be very useful. Especially when you’re on a trip abroad and don’t want to stack up on the roaming bill. However, it's easy to update your offline maps if you want to be able to access them indefinitely. To start, tap the hamburger icon in the top-left corner of Google Maps, then choose 'Offline maps' (Android) or 'Offline areas' (iPhone). From here, select the downloaded map area, then press 'Update' on the following screen. City Maps - Nagoya City Maps are a collection of offline maps that you can download on to your device. You do not need a data connection to view the map and so it can be used abroad without experiencing additional charges or where there is no signal. Google Map Gps Cell Phone Tracker includes clients for IOS, Android, Windows Phone and Java Me/J2ME cell phones. The project allows you to track cell phones periodically. For instance, every minute or every five minutes. With Google Map Gps Cell Phone Tracker, you can watch the cell phone being tracked in real time and you can store. I'm 'uping' the subject here. Obviously Here maps provides the best offline maps integration in Windows Phone, however, some countries such as Japan are not supported. That's why I was wondering if any good alternative could be found to store offline google maps? I've tried various gps navigation apps but none of them provides the Japan maps:-/.
Score: 79%
Creating a Google Maps client on a modern Windows Phone faces a number of problems. Firstly, Google will have nothing to do with it, so everything has to be sourced by public APIs. Secondly, most phones will already have HERE Maps pre-installed, often with full offline country maps, making the online Google Maps slower and less convenient. However, the benefits of Google's POI database, StreetView imagery and traffic layers are all enough to make a good client worthwhile, and Clarity has produced just this, arguably blending the best of all worlds together into a seamless whole..
So again - sorry if the application name (and indeed its icon, if you look in the app listings!) got your hopes up. In fact, there are several apps of this name in the Windows Phone Store (insert my usual rant against Microsoft QA), so make sure you grab the right one. This is perhaps the best of the breed and recently had a big update, so high time for 'Google Maps' (sic) to get the review treatment here.
Available for free, of course, since the source maps are effectively free via Google's (and, as it turns out, Nokia's and Microsoft's) APIs, 'Google Maps' here does add the occasional banner ad, sometimes also asking for donations to keep development going for Windows Phone. In view of the integration and UI work done here, this is fair enough and I wish the developers well.
It's worth stating up front that 'Google Maps' takes no prisoners when it comes to sourcing its data. By default it uses the offline maps (from HERE) that you may already have on your device, even while searching Google Maps' POI database and presenting Google Traffic and StreetView data. It's a sign of the maturity of the mapping market in most countries that the various alternatives all 'line up' this accurately, such that you can overlay one data set on the other without worrying about jarring mismatches.
The idea, obviously, behind using your own offline maps wherever possible (and indeed there's a shortcut to this function in HERE Maps on the Google Maps menu!) is that it can save you a lot of data when accessing this system while mobile. If using this hybrid approach upsets you then it's easy to pick the map source you want from the settings menu.
Initial impressions are good, with a set of tutorial screens introducing different aspects of the interface - each can be cancelled or set to pop up later to 'remind', etc.
And then you're into the maps, with the option of '3D' (just a visual effect, tilting the 2D map, obviously, though there are some genuine 3D models of buildings in some cities, with again the hybrid system of Google structures overlaid on Nokia map data!), going to your current location (as determined by GPS or wi-fi/cellular, according to your device settings) or searching by name/category. Interestingly, there's a voice input option, but this isn't Google's rather splendid Maps voice recognition system - it's the standard Microsoft one and does a pretty awful job of transcribing place names.
..looks like this was snapped while the fair was in town!!
Zooming in and out of the maps is with multi-touch, though 'Google Maps' stops short of implementing the 'twist' gesture to rotate things - instead there are on-screen controls to rotate the map, along with a layers/maps master control. This latter proves invaluable as a way of quickly switching map source and turning on and off layers like traffic and transit, as needed.
As usual with Google (and indeed HERE) Maps, red lines aren't good, indicating queuing traffic..
The speed of 'Google Maps' isn't quite there, if you've tried the real thing on a modern Android device - the displays frequently flash with overlay updates and it can take several seconds for a particular view to be fully composed if you have several layers turned on, but be restrained about what you ask for and it's still very useable. The StreetView presentation is the slowest aspect of 'Google Maps' here by far, in that swivelling the viewpoint and generally moving around can be frustratingly slow and jerky.
Using StreetView to locate and find the name of a business I vaguely new was at a particular location. Shame the phone number got mangled by the photo joins..
But it's churlish to complain too much - this is a completely free (aside from any donations you might supply!) application that brings you most of the functionality of Google Maps on Android in an interface that makes sense on Windows Phone - and manages to integrate with the excellent HERE Maps where needed as well.
Very unselfishly, Google Maps spawns out to Waze or HERE Maps, as needed, for example here passing my destination and start position over to Nokia's built-in navigation system.
Google's POI (Points Of Interest) directory is second to none and in addition there's now integration with user photos and reviews, all also accessible here within 'Google Maps' for Windows Phone..
The StreetView imagery and 3D building models are Google's, the map itself is Nokia's - impossible to see the joins!
Some of the search categories, though note that there's guarantee that all businesses will be in the mighty Google database - here the NatWest bank seems to have pushed the right buttons or crossed the right palms with silver, to get its ATMs into the database to the exclusion of other brands/banks!
Who could resist a kitten?(!) Go on, 'Google Maps' is worth a donation, we reckon..
Free Google Map Download Windows
While traffic flow is accurate and detailed, the same can't be said for the 'incidents' pane. On the right, here, the map is centred around an accident on the M4 motorway, yet all the pane wants to tell me about are scheduled roadworks. Hmm..
Although not yet perfect, this is still very much a recommended install, whether it's for emergency look-ups of things that HERE Maps can't find, whether it's to browse through Google's social treasure trove of real world reviews, or whether it's because you like having StreetView at your fingertips.
Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at
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Filed: Home >Reviews >Google Maps
Platforms: Windows Phone 8 Categories: Applications
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Thanks to Google Maps and countless other apps, we take maps and location services for granted. While these apps are extremely powerful and helpful when you’re navigating around your homeland, things can get complicated when you’re away form your home turf. Roaming charge in foreign countries are astonishingly high and your bill can run into hundreds of dollars even for some light surfing.
In times like these it is better to have offline maps to guide you through. Download the map for the country you’re heading to, and when you have stable Wi-Fi you can forget about the expensive data plans.
Most of the apps listed here have offline search function so you can use them just like normal maps app and by turning on GPS (and not data) you can identify your current location and navigate easily. It won’t be as good as turn by turn navigation but it’s a lot better than being utterly lost.
1. Google Maps
The updated Google Maps app for Android and iOS has an offline feature but it’s really limited. You can only make the current area map offline. To do that just tap the search bar, scroll to the bottom and select Make this map area available offline. On iOS 7 it says Save map to use offline. To get the most out of the features of the updated maps app check out our detailed guide.
What is it good for? Convenience. You already have Google Maps on your phone and all if you need is an offline map of the area you’re already in, there’s no need to go looking for a whole new app.
2. Maps With Me Lite For Lots Of Platforms
Maps With Me Lite is a free no nonsense offline app for a lot of platforms (including BlackBerry). You can download offline maps for any country you like, but make sure you do so on Wi-Fi before heading out into the wild because they are pretty big downloads.
India’s map was about 100 MB (and the entire USA, which you can cherry pick by states, will cost you around 1 GB). Once downloaded though, you can pinch to zoom and pan around any area you like and relevant information will keep popping up as you get deeper into a region.
When it comes to details, Maps With Me has the basics covered. You’ll find the names for major streets easily but anything deeper than that is just physical map with no contextual data. The pro app lets you search and bookmark locations within the app.
What is it good for? Maps With Me is one of those just so you have it kind of apps. Better to download it, you never know when you might need it.
Download Offline Google Map For Windows Phone 8 Sdk
3. Here Maps For Windows Phone
If you own a Nokia Lumia phone, Here Maps come preinstalled. You can also install the app on a variety of Windows Phone devices. Here Maps is to Windows Phone what Google Maps is to the rest of the world. That doesn’t mean they’re bad. Quite the contrary. If you live in Europe or India where Windows Phone market is quite good, Here Maps offer you localized features like traffic reports and free turn by turn navigation that’s sometimes better than Google’s offering. But this depends solely on your location.
You can use Google Maps on your Windows Phone if you like but for most people Here Maps is a better alternative. When you first start app, it will ask you to download maps for offline use. If you missed it, don’t worry. From the three dotted menu, select Download Maps and select Download New Maps and download the localized map for offline use.
What is it good for? If you’re on Windows Phone, this is your best (and the only good) bet.
4. Galileo Offline Maps For iOS
Galileo is like Maps With Me but better. The offline maps download sizes in Galileo are about 60% of Maps With Me. Saving almost half of download costs and storage space is no small feat. Galileo also allows you to search through the offline maps for free, a feature that’s locked behind the pay wall for Maps With Me.
Google Maps Offline Windows 10
Galileo is also a well rounded maps app. The paid upgrade gets you features like driving mode, GPS tracks recording, bookmarks and a lot more. But it’s only available on iOS so Android users should still stick with Maps With Me.
What is it good for? If you’re using an iPhone, Galileo is what you should go for. It’s free and has offline search support.
How Do You Travel?
What apps/maps do you use to make your travel easier? Let us know in the comments below.
Also See#google maps #Lists
Did You Know
Most of the Google Maps aerial and satellite images are updated every two weeks.
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