Windows Phone was first to come up with offline maps which allows anybody using the phone to search, get direction, and even real time navigation without Internet. However it did came with a restriction when you wanted to download. It needed WIFI, which is assumed to have unlimited bandwidth. IMO, this was little ridiculous restriction because if you ever needed a map on the go, your mobile data is useless for such scenario.
Windows 10 being a universal platform, has got rid of the restriction, and now you can actually download Maps even over a metered connection. So this feature is specifically for those Windows Tablets, and Windows Mobile / Phone which need to download maps using their mobile network.
Assuming that your mobile data is turned on, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > System > Offline Maps ( You can also directly search for Offline Maps in Start menu)
- Turn on the option which says “Metered Connections”
- Now you will be able to download the maps for offline usage.
Remember if you don’t turn on this, it will keep waiting for WIFI. That said, now lets take a look on the maps section. When you hit the plus icon to download maps, it will help you find your region. So select your continent, then country, state and then region. You can download multiple maps repeating the same steps.
These maps do occupy space, and if you are running short of it, and there is nothing you can do about it, you can delete them. However the option is nuclear, which means it will wipe out all the maps. Hope this gets a fix in near future.
The last thing you should know is that the maps get automatically update, and should be of least concern. However, you can manually check using the Check Now Button right at the bottom.
