You’re going to be most dependent on Apple Maps whenever you’re in a remote, unfamiliar location or a foreign country. But that’s also when Apple Maps is least likely to work, because you won’t have any cell signal or data. Well, all that is finally going to change with offline maps in iOS 17.
Of course, Google Maps and other navigation apps have already offered offline maps for years. It’s an area that Apple has always fallen far behind on, for no clear reason, adding to the reasonsmost people prefer Google Maps to Apple Maps.
In recent years, Apple has put a lot of energy into improving its native Maps app, available on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. We’ve seen new features like Cycling directions, Flyover views, curated Guides, and other cool features. But without an option to download maps for offline use, the app has still been less functional and useful than Apple’s competitors.
But that’s now set to change.
At WWDC 2023, Apple revealed that iOS 17 will finally allow users to download offline maps. This means you’ll be able to search for destinations, get directions, and look up business information without needing a data connection. This will be useful for anyone who has bad cell signal, is planning a trip abroad, or simply wants to cut down their data usage.
The only requirement is that you download your maps offline ahead of time. To do that,make sure you’re running iOS 17, then tap the Profile icon in Apple Maps and hit the Offline Maps option. From here, you choose to Download New Map, then select the area you want to download. By default, Maps will only download offline maps over Wi-Fi, but you may tweak that in the settings to download over cellular data as well.
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After downloading a map for offline use, just keep using the Maps app as usual to take advantage of it. You’ll notice that you’re able to still load information and directions even when you don’t have cell signal. If you want, you can even tweak the Maps settings to only use your offline maps.
Offline maps is just one of lots of new features coming to iPhones with the release of iOS 17 later this year. We’re also going to get interactive widgets, StandBy mode, a Journal app, and more. If you’re able to’t wait for the public release in Fall, you caninstall the public beta to start using iOS 17 right now.
