During the launch of the Pixel Watch 3 at the Made by Google event, Google announced that it would roll out an offline maps feature for Wear OS smartwatches. And according to the latest report, the Wear OS offline maps support is already rolling out.
With the latest update to the Google Maps app on your Wear OS smartwatch, offline maps saved on your phone will automatically get synced to your watch. This will let users access maps even if their watches aren"t connected to the internet.
After installing the latest Google Maps update, opening the app will show a prompt explaining how "Offline maps on the phone are auto-downloaded to the watch." Additionally, users will see a new "Offline maps" page above the Settings located at the bottom of that main list.
As per the report, the watch app automatically downloads the map for your area. It will show how much space the download maps would take and also provide an option to delete the offline maps with one tap. The maps are automatically synced over Wi-Fi and charging.
When you are using offline maps on the Google Maps app on a supported Wear OS smartwatch, a slashed cloud icon will appear the next time you are offline. Reportedly, this new offline maps support is visible in the Google Maps Wear OS app version 11.140.0701.W on the Pixel Watch 2.
The new offline maps feature now compliments the new "Search & go" tile, which displays your Home and Work shortcuts along with the microphone icon for voice input on the Google Maps Wear OS app"s home screen.
Recently, Google Maps added much-needed India-specific features to its Android and iOS app. One prominent feature is flyover navigation, which now highlights flyovers on specific routes within 40 Indian cities with more to be added soon.
Source and image: 9To5Google