Living on the Road

Ulmon Offline Mobile Maps

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iPhone maps that don't need a data connection

When I travel to another city in the US, I use my iPhone’s Maps app to guide me, especially when I’m on foot. It’s great knowing I won’t get lost as I wander through the streets.

Using online maps when I travel outside the US is too expensive, though, because they consume data, which costs a lot of money. Fortunately, I learned about Ulmon Mobile City Guides. These are free, well-designed offline maps that work with your phone’s GPS to show you where you are and your desired location, without needing a data connection. Just make sure you install the city guide you need before leaving for your trip.

Ulmon maps also include interactive subway maps, Wikipedia articles attached to points of interest, restaurant guides, and other useful travel features, such as the ability to drop pins and add notes to the places you want to visit. I’ve had excellent results using these guides in London, Paris, and Rome (Tokyo, New York, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Vienna, Venice, and 18 other cities are available).

The one thing they won’t do that online maps will do is draw a route from point A to point B, but that has not been a problem for me, since I haven’t driven a car in the countries where I’ve used the maps.

-- Mark Frauenfelder 01/27/14

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