Google is rolling out a few new features for Google Maps that makes it easier to use your phone to get from place to place, even if you have spotty (or non-existent) internet access.

There’s a new WiFi-only mode for Android that lets you navigate when your phone is offline. There’s now support for storing downloaded maps on an SD card. And if you’re not planning to drive yourself, Google is adding data from more ride-sharing services to help you plan your trip.

google maps wifi

The new WiFi-only option only works if you’ve already downloaded a map of the area. But if you have, this mode will keep your phone from giving you an error message if your cellular data connection goes out.

And if you don’t have a ton of free space in your phone’s internal storage, Google Maps for Android will now ask where you’d like to store data when you download map data for offline use. The dialog box will also show you how much free space is available on both your SD card and your phone’s internal storage.

The third new feature is available for Android or iOS. Google Maps for those platforms could already show you data from Uber so you could see how far away the nearest car is and get an estimate of how much a ride would cost. Now there’s also data available from Grab, Gett, Hailo, and MyTaxi in some of the regions supported by those services including some cities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Austria, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, and Russiah.

 

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