GOOGLE MAPS HAS a number of handy features for you to take advantage of, most noticeably its offline features.

While it announced some new offline features recently like turn-by-turn directions and allowing you to search saved areas, it’s very likely that you’re waiting for it to arrive.

It’s arriving on Android devices first and then iOS later, but the rollout might not be as quick.

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Still, it’s worth mentioning that you can already save locations offline, the process just isn’t as straightforward as the example above.

Here’s what you need to do on either iOS or Android.

1. Search for a city or location (for this example, we’re going for Berlin).
2. When the map is loaded, tap on the bar at the bottom of the screen.
3. Here tap the options menu (three dots at the top right-hand corner) and select ‘Save offline map’.
4. Zoom in or out of the map as needed before hitting the download button. If the area is too large, it will prevent you from saving it.

   

Now the next time you want to access a map offline, go into ‘Your Places’ at the side menu and scroll all the way to the bottom. Your saved maps will be located there.

While it’s useful to have it for those times where you have limited or no reception, it’s also handy for when you’re abroad and want to limit data usage.

The current version of offline maps is limited, you can only view a location and zoom in/out, but it’s better than nothing as you wait for the update to arrive.

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