The latest update of the iPhone operating system introduces, with much delay, a very practical function for using Apple Maps offline.
Ten years after Google Maps, Apple’s Maps application is able to work without an Internet connection. With iOS 17, Apple is introducing a feature allowing you to locally download areas of the Apple Maps map. These maps, available offline, include all the information you usually find in the application. In particular, you can use these maps to find places of interest, but also to navigate in step-by-step mode, whether on foot, by car or by bike.
Excellent news if you are used to traveling abroad and the mobile data envelope allocated by your operator is limited. You will now only have to download your cards from home before leaving. For those who forget to download maps from home before leaving, the function, configured by default for downloading over Wi-Fi, can also be used with a mobile Internet connection.
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1. View the map area to download
Open Apple Maps, and in the search box, enter the name of the location whose map you want to retrieve. You can also directly select the name of a place displayed on the map. Once the map area is correctly defined, press the button Download displayed in the drawer at the bottom of the screen.
2. Frame the map and download it
The map download module should then open. Adjust the area of the map to download by adjusting both the size of the box and the zoom of the map as a whole. The larger the selected area, the larger the map size will obviously be. At the bottom of the screen, you should see, in real time, the size that the selected map area will occupy on your iPhone.
Once the map area is correctly selected, press the button Download. You will be able to follow the download status live from the toolbar. Apple Maps will also send you a notification when your map is downloaded to your device.
3. Manage your maps offline
As you download maps, some may no longer be of much use to you. To manage your offline maps in Apple Maps, open the app and tap your avatar at the bottom right. Then enter the menu Offline plans, then enter the details of each downloaded map. You can then rename your cards, and of course delete them.
Note that it is also from this menu, Offline Maps, that you can update your maps (if the Automatic update option is not activated), or even schedule their deletion in the event of of disuse. You can also change the download settings to allow maps to be downloaded over the cellular data network.