Wear OS watches, including the Pixel Watch 3, now get offline Google Maps
Google Maps is even more useful when it works offline, since it can be useful in places with poor or no cellular coverage. Offline support for Google Maps is now rolling out to Wear OS smartwatches, including the new Pixel Watch 3.
This is an upgrade that was previously announced and as 9to5Google reports, is now showing up for users. It’s not clear what limits there will be on which models get an offline mode for Google Maps, but it’s also showing up on the Pixel Watch 2.
According to SamMobileThe update is now also available for Galaxy watches running Wear OS, including the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and at least the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, which launched in 2021.
Once the update arrives, a new message will appear when you open Google Maps on the watch: “Offline maps on the phone will automatically download to the watch.” An additional offline maps page has also been added in Google Maps for Wear OS settings.
Navigate everywhere
It appears that maps for your home area will automatically download to the watch, while offline maps synced from Google Maps on your phone will also transfer over. If you want more offline maps, it appears that you’ll need to save them to your phone first.
All of this means that if you have a Wi-Fi-only Wear OS watch without a phone nearby, you can still navigate through areas covered by offline maps. If you have a Wi-Fi+LTE Wear OS watch but no cellular signal, offline maps will help here too.
Of course, storage space on even the best smartwatches is more limited than smartphones, so you might not be able to store as many maps. You can delete maps you no longer need directly from your wrist.
Check out our Google Pixel Watch 3 hands-on for our first impressions of the smartwatch, Google Maps features and all. Next month, it’s Apple’s turn to launch new smartwatches, specifically the Apple Watch 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3.