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Comment by dagw | Hacker News Reader

Google Maps on Android at least allows downloading maps for offline use. I've used it lots of time when traveling and it works great.

The only slight downside is there is a limit to how big a single downloaded map can be. So if you want to download all of Europe you have download it as a whole bunch of smaller maps and switch between them rather than a single big map, but realistically I've never run into problems with the size limitation

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Another limitation of Google Maps is, it does not provide offline navigation which becomes very important in places where you don't have mobile data coverage.

This is a seldom known fact that catches people out because most assume that if you have the map locally, it will help you traverse it locally. My personal story on this is going across the border to see an NFL game in Detroit last year, turning off data because of the usurious rates Canadian carriers charge for roaming. When leaving I couldn't navigate at all -- despite the relevant map being available -- so I had to turn data on for a couple of seconds just for Google to get the route. $20 for 3MB of data. Someone relying upon it when they're out of cellular range would be in a much worse situation.

You know, people did manage to navigate before the advent of GPS based navigation systems. They looked at a map, planned out their route, watched for the appropriate streets, and if they got lost, stopped and looked at the map again.

If you have the offline map, you can still do this even if you can't use the GPS navigation feature.

No kidding. Thanks for sarcastically pointing out the obvious.

I can make coffee by pounding my own grinds and boiling water over a campfire. But if I wake up expecting to turn the coffee maker on and can't, it can throw off my day. Further Google Maps is a terrible, terrible way to handle navigate on a smartphone, especially in a dense urban area with layers of highways.

Apologies for the sarcasm. I was merely trying to point out that navigation may not be worth the ridiculous roaming charges, and instead just using it as a static map is possible.

If you can find Wifi, that will also provide the necessary connectivity to enable your navigation route to be downloaded. This is how I got around rural Nevada, Utah, and Arizona with my Galaxy Nexus.

I prefer the OSM offline maps for this reason. They don't do routing/navigation per se either, but they do let you search for addresses and POIs, whereas offline Google Maps doesn't. I don't usually need turn-by-turn directions so that's typically good enough for me: at least it means I can type in the name of a museum rather than having to scroll around the map hunting for it.

Seriously check out OsmAnd - it does do offline navigation which is why I got it.

Yeah, but the offline maps do not work in Brazil due to licensing restrictions. So OSM has an advantage there.

Or in the UK. Belgium is OK.

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