Google has unveiled a furbished up app Google Maps for Android devices that allows users to receive directions while offline.

The search giant touts the freshened up Google Maps for Android as the perfect companion to plan for journeys when underground and allows users to save local area for retrieving directions even without network or Wi-Fi connection.

Rita Chen, product manager of Google Maps for mobile, said the upcoming app intends to rid of paper maps, with users navigating through Google Maps and GPS with the app’s little, trustworthy blue dot. Users will have the ability to zoom in on a particular downloaded area of Google Maps, allowing them to distinguish street names.

At the event held in San Francisco, Google also brought out details on improvements to Street View and a more detailed 3-D Google Earth Map.

The launch of an updated Google Maps for Android came just days before this week’s Apple WWDC event, where the Cupertino-based tech giant is likely to announce a switch from Google Maps in iOS 6 to its own proprietary mapping service. However, both companies apparently still have an agreement, with Google saying that its new Google Earth app will come to the iPhone in the next few weeks.

Google Maps for Android now with offline mode. (Image: Johan Larsson, via Flickr / CC)

About Francis Rey Balolong

A coffee junkie who spends most of his time writing about the latest news on social media and mobile technology. I would definitely consider myself a nerd (in the coolest most hipster way possible). That being said, I love technology, music, writing, and all things mobile. Follow me: Google+ Twitter

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