Maps on the Nexus 7

[samalex]

We'll know more about this when the N7 ships, but just curious if anyone has heard more about how the offline maps work or how much you can save.  Ideally I'd love to save maps for when I take roadtrips, but I hope Google lets us select what data we want to save... for example I'd only need roads, mile markers, etc and no landmarks, satellite images, etc. 

From the demo's I've seen it looks like you select Offline Map then draw a box around the area you want to save.  I'd think just this wouldn't use much space since I used to have a single CD-ROM with this back in the day.  One reason I got the 16 Gig N7 was for offline maps, so hopefully it's not overkill.

But even if Offline Google Maps is less than ideal at least with the GPS third party mapping apps can still be used at a cost.

[Drew]

I don't know if it is my tab or ICS, but 100 Mb is the largest cache I can do for offline.

Also, can you save your offline map and use GPS and compass when you pull it up?   I thought it was just a "dead" map, but read otherwise.

[samalex]

A few other forums that discuss the offline maps say you can save 6 different maps at about 10 miles each, and the route has to be set while online and can not change once it's saved.  This is using the beta version of offline maps, so hopefully they change this on the N7.  Ideally I'd like to have the ability to create a route then cache that route and anything say 5 or 10 miles from the route just incase I need to deviate or find a detour.  If Offline Maps are this limited i'll definitely be looking for a third party app.

[birdastrompgman]

If the Google offline maps app keeps a skeletal database of major highways and exits, I can get by with one or two 10 mile diameter destination databases in device storage.  The original Garmin Streetpilot did that, with its 128 MB of non-ROM storage.

My trips are typically 500-600 miles of driving each day.  I only need a gps nav app to keep me on route to my destination city, and detailed map data to get me to a motel, restaurant, and other points of interest once I'm the destination city.  I suspect offline maps will do it.  We'll see.

More disturbing are recent comments about Google Maps crashing.  It seems Google can't keep one of its flagship programs functional.

[samalex]

Yeah crashes are no good, especially in a mapping program that one might depend on during a trip where connectivity might be sketchy. Everything that I've read says offline maps has been beta for the most part until 4.1, so maybe they have these bugs worked out.

Also like you when I travel I go generally a few hundred miles, so unless the offline maps can accommodate this I'll be finding another solution too.

[LanceJ]

The videos I've seen of the new maps being used limited each saved map to 80mb... You will be able to use gps an compass on saved maps... Once the gps has a fix on your location, all it had to do is plot your position in lat/Lon in the saved map which will have all the coordinated for that map embedded... Otherwise it would be no different than takin a screenshot of your maps...

[LanceJ]

That was on some beta/developer models... Surely it'll be upped by release day...

[birdastrompgman]

I'm completely disappointed in the videos and reviews I've seen so far of offline Maps.  No one seems to have done any testing or written a description of what the Android screen displays and how Google Offline Maps functions when your location is 200 miles from your downloaded map location.  There's video showing that the map image blurs when you zoom in on cities for which you haven't downloaded data, but nothing about whether you can go off-route and have offline maps usefully get you back on course.

[samalex]

I'm completely disappointed in the videos and reviews I've seen so far of offline Maps.

I'm there with you... unless Offline Maps have more capabilities than what the demo videos show I'll either keep using my Android phone as a GPS or invest in third party mapping software for the N7.

[kyoo]

dont understand why there's no option to download the whole map - 8gig or 16 its our storage so let us do what we want with it.. doesn't make any sense esp given the lack of 3g/4g

[samalex]

dont understand why there's no option to download the whole map - 8gig or 16 its our storage so let us do what we want with it.. doesn't make any sense esp given the lack of 3g/4g

I agree. They should be able to download at least all roads, exit numbers, etc and plot courses offline, I don't need to know where each restaurant or gas station is offline as long as I can plot from Point A to Point B.  Heck 15 years ago I had a software package that fit the entire US map on a single CD that had all this, so surely Google can do the same. 

[radiocycle]

dont understand why there's no option to download the whole map - 8gig or 16 its our storage so let us do what we want with it.. doesn't make any sense esp given the lack of 3g/4g

I agree. They should be able to download at least all roads, exit numbers, etc and pot courses offline, I don't need to know where each restaurant or gas station is offline as long as I can plot from Point A to Point B.  Heck 15 years ago I had a software package that fit the entire US map on a single CD that had all this, so surely Google can do the same.

"pot courses" 

[samalex]

"pot courses" 

s/pot/plot   Corrected.