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I've tried looking for an app that caches map data, so that it doesn't need an active Internet connection on the move.

The built-in one doesn't work well in that aspect. Caching the satellite maps turns out to be a nightmare because of the zoom levels involved. Only the road maps (the non-satellite ones) are somewhat easy to cache, depending on how large an area you want to cache.

  • Is there a way to cache areas in the Maps apps?
  • If not, is there a good app that caches satellite/hybrid map data? Paid apps will do.
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Advanced caching options are not supported for the build-in maps application. If other applications would provide this using Google's maps data, they would act against the Google Maps TOS. See section 10.1.3 "Restrictions against Data Export or Copying" - (b) "No Pre-Fetching, Caching, or Storage of Content".

This leaves us with apps which use other maps data. Such as...

OffMaps 2 (for iPhone/iPad)

OffMaps 2 allows you to download maps for offline use. The maps data is originally retrieved from OpenStreetMap.

  • You download maps on a per-region-basis. Two maps are included for free.
  • You can purchase a download 'licence' for unlimited maps for $5.99.

I wondered myself how they could demand money for open data - they say:

We do not charge for the data, but for the service we provide around it. We clean the data and leverage its full potential from removing unneeded information via linked addresses with streets to providing a public transport layer. We also need money to feed the hamsters in our server farm treadmills.

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  • It's unfortunate that Google disallows offline caching. Do you know how OffMaps compares to Google Maps in the level of detail? – Hippo Mar 27 '12 at 10:38
  • @Hippo The level of detail and other information in OpenStreetMap is very high. In rural areas it is often more detailed than Google Maps (which of course depends on the region). See for yourself how detailed the areas are which you need maps for on openstreetmap.org – gentmatt Mar 27 '12 at 12:30
  • The level of detail looks good, but it doesn't seem to support satellite imagery. I'll accept this as the answer since it seems this is the best we can get without jailbraking and violating Google's TOS. – Hippo Mar 27 '12 at 16:18
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I use the GaiaGPS App for my walks. This is free and does the job. You can save maps and use them once you're on the spot without any connexions. And you can zoom!

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