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I was wondering if there's a way to either completely turn off or extend the time frame of expiration for Google Maps - Offline feature.

I tried to search about it, but almost all blogs suggests that these offline stored maps expire in 30 days. The notification for their expiration reads "Offline maps expiring You won't be able to use them after they expire."

Now, this a little too frequent and I'm unable to access the Stored Maps (without internet) post this time frame without an update.

offline maps expiration notification

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  • One just isn't allowed to live off-line for longer than... Google needs to know about your footsteps. That's their business model. :-)
    – user184570
    Aug 26, 2016 at 3:36
  • Download Here We go maps! It is Awesome created by Nokia. It can be used Completly Offline for Navigation.
    – Avinash
    Oct 6, 2016 at 5:47

1 Answer 1

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Unfortunately it's not possible.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Offline areas that you downloaded on your phone or tablet need to be updated at least every 30 days.

If your offline area expires in 15 days or less, Google Maps will try to update your area when you're connected to the Internet and plugged into a charger.

(from Google Maps Help - Download areas and navigate offline)

There's a bit of conjecture online about what the reason for this may be, and whether it's potentially related to Google being worried that maps will be out of date. On the same link above, I would say this gives a clue:

Note: Downloading offline areas isn't available in some regions because of contractual limitations, language support, address formats, or other reasons.

Although there's no official word from Google on it, I'd say it's highly likely that this time limit is related to contractual limitations at least in some areas. Kindof like how iTunes rentals expire, or Spotify Premium offline playlists expire: if there was no expiry date at all, then there's no difference between 'accessing' and effectively 'permanently buying for free/cheap'.

If offline maps are very important to you, you may want to consider apps that support OpenStreetMap (or see this answer).

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  • 2
    I've deleted comments debating this policy. That kind of heated discussion doesn't belong here. Remember we're all here to help each other, so be nice.
    – Dan Hulme
    Aug 24, 2018 at 12:12

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