A series of updates were rolled out to Google Maps for Android this week, including a Wi-fi only mode, the option to save to an SD card, and an expansion of ride sharing service comparisons.
Wi-Fi Only Mode
Just last month Google introduced an offline-only mode for Maps to help users ensure they would not incur data charges while using the app. Now there’s a new way to use Maps without using up data. With the option to toggle a “Wi-fi only” mode on and off, you can still use Maps “offline” without having any maps data saved to your phone. Putting Google Maps in Wi-fi only mode does not affect the ability of any other apps to access cellular data.
Save to SD Card
Speaking of saving Google Maps data to your phone, now you can do so without having to save them to your phone’s internal memory. If your phone supports external SD cards, you will now have the option to use external storage when downloading Maps data. Google introduced the ability to save Google Maps data to your phone in November 2015. For more information about how it works, please see this post.
Expanded Ride Sharing Service Comparisons
Since March, Google Maps has had the ability to compare the rates of popular ride sharing services. Now the feature is getting expanded to include additional services in countries around the world. Here’s what has been added:
- ‘GO-JEK’ rides in three cities in Indonesia, with ten more cities coming soon
- ‘Grab’ rides in 24 cities throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
- ‘Gett’, ‘Hailo’, and ‘MyTaxi’ comparisons added in select cities across Ireland, Poland, Italy, Austria, Russia, and Israel
All of these new ride sharing services have been added to the Google Maps app for Android, and coming soon to iOS. Due to the lack of an external storage slot, it’s safe to say iOS will never be getting the ‘save to SD card’ option. Wi-fi only mode is said to only be rolling out to Android at this time, with no mention of it coming to the iOS app.
