Google Maps is even more useful when it works offline, because it means it can help in places with poor or no cellular coverage – and offline support for Google Maps is now rolling out to smartwatches running Wear OS, including the new Pixel Watch 3.
This is an upgrade that had previously been 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 SamMobile, the update is also now reaching Galaxy watches running Wear OS, including the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and going at least as far back as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 that launched in 2021.
Once the update has arrived, opening Google Maps on the watch brings up a new message: “Offline maps on the phone are auto-downloaded to the watch.” There’s also an extra Offline maps page added in the Settings in Google Maps for Wear OS.
Navigate anywhere
It looks as though maps for your home area are downloaded to the watch automatically, while offline maps synced to Google Maps on your phone are transferred across too. If you want more offline maps, it seems as though you have to save them on your phone first.
All of this means that if you have a Wi-Fi only Wear OS watch without a phone nearby, you’ll still be able to navigate around areas covered by offline maps. If you have a Wi-Fi+LTE Wear OS but no cellular signal, offline maps will help here too.
Of course even on the best smartwatches, storage space is more limited than it is on smartphones, so you might not be able to keep as many maps stored. You can delete maps you no longer need right from your wrist.
Head to our Google Pixel Watch 3 hands-on for our first impressions of the smartwatch, Google Maps features and all. It’ll be Apple‘s turn to launch new smartwatches next month, specifically the Apple Watch 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3.