Google Maps to Include Offline Search and Navigation

At Google’s I/O 2015 developers’ conference yesterday, the tech company announced that its ubiquitous map service Google Maps is set to be updated with offline functionalities such as search and turn-by-turn voice navigation. Consistent with Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai’s vision of enabling internet access to the next billion users in the developing world, the offline capabilities of Google Maps will ensure that the service can still be used in areas with unreliable or expensive data service. Due to arrive later this year, this new update will follow in the vein of YouTube Offline, which allows users (currently restricted to India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) to download and save YouTube videos onto your phone for 48 hours.