The following free offline GPS apps for your Android will let you discover new places to explore, provide you with maps you can use to travel those locations even if you’re completely off-grid. It’s ideal for those trips when you know you’ll be traveling off-grid without any cellular data connection at all. It’s also useful if you plan to do long-distance traveling and you have a limited data plan that can’t support realtime route streaming. There are also location guides (custom itineraries) available for major cities across the world, but you need to pay to download these. Maps also include points of interest and hiking trails. All maps are updated regularly by open-source map service OpenStreetMap. The App developers promise that their maps consume less space. This promise seems to hold true. For example, you can download maps for the entire state of California and only consume 601 MB of your mobile storage. All maps are updated for free several times a year. The app includes voice navigation, points of interest, real-time route and location sharing with friends, and even a GPS walking directions mode. Some unique features offered include information about parking location and prices, and where to find the cheapest fuel prices near you. Some of these features require internet access, but offline GPS map navigation is always available off-grid if you’ve downloaded maps. HERE WeGo provides you with access to free maps covering areas all around the world. Browsing for maps starts by continent, and as you drill down to a region or state, maps download to your device for offline use. Travel information that comes with the downloads includes car, biking, or public transit routes. It also includes terrain information so you can predict how difficult your bike or walking route will be. Navigation is just as effective as Google Maps, even offline. Rerouting occurs if you miss any turns, navigation includes time of arrival, and the screen switches between night and day mode automatically. You can search for points of interest around you even if you’re offline. Maps even include detailed hiking and walking paths, perfect for trekking in locations that have no cellular access. This app lets you plan out hiking routes at any location across the world. It doesn’t matter how remote the location is, because you can download a map of the area you plan to explore (requires subscription). Maps are displayed in topographical format so you can more easily estimate the difficulty level of the hike. It also includes weather forecast overlays so you’re never surprised by conditions on the trail. The app also includes a complete library of hikes and campgrounds near you. See reviews from other adventurers who visited those locations before you. Using this app, you can browse for places to go hiking, biking, backpacking, and camping. Once you pick on a location, you’ll see a map with a highlighted trail route for you to follow. Tap the map view to zoom in or out, and explore trail features. Tapping the Plan icon lets you add favorite spots you’ve found, create a list of trails you want to visit, or see the maps you’ve downloaded for offline use. AllTrails is well know for havin the largest collection of topographical trail maps in the world. This app lets you tap into that impressive database. This app offers a free selection of maps from around the world including street maps, satellite images, and topographical maps. For access to the full database, you’ll need to make a one-time purchase. Using ViewRanger, you can click the explore icon to browse through available trails and routes near you. For an annual subscription, you can also use the Skyline tool that lets you use your Android’s camera to identify all of the mountain peaks in your area. The app can also integrate with your OS Wear enabled smartwatch to record your tracks, and view your location information like your current heading, GPS location, and altitude.
