Technologies
How to Access Offline Maps on Your iPhone
This trick can ensure you have a map of your location in case of an emergency.
If you’re planning a weekend getaway this fall, you might plan on using your iPhone’s Maps app for directions. But using the app for extended periods could eat up your monthly data. Thankfully, when Apple released iOS 17 in 2023, the tech giant brought offline maps to your iPhone.Â
With offline maps, you can designate areas you want to download from your Maps app onto your iPhone to use in case of an emergency, or so the app doesn’t wreck your cellular data. Before you start using the feature, you may be wondering how well it works.
To find out, I downloaded a map of my hometown and used it to get around for a couple of days. My wife and I went to get coffee downtown before walking to an outdoor market, we drove back to our home and went back downtown for dinner after an NFL game ended. I also used offline maps to drive to and from my gym, as well as to walk my dog around the neighborhood.
Here’s how you can access offline maps and what to know about them before you set foot out the door.
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How to download offline maps
It can be a good idea to have a map of an unfamiliar area, like a new town or hiking path, in case you don’t have Wi-Fi access or a cell signal. Here’s how you can download a map to use offline.
1. Open Maps.
2. Use the Search Maps bar to find the area you want to download a map for.
3. Tap Download.
An outline will then appear over your map, which represents the area you’ll download a map for. You can resize this outline until you’re satisfied and then tap Download. A banner will announce when your map has finished downloading.
Here’s how you can access your offline maps settings page after you’ve downloaded them.
1. Open Maps.Â
2. Tap your profile picture near the Search Maps bar.
3. Tap Offline Maps.Â
From this menu, you can access all the maps you’ve downloaded, as well as settings for each map, like updates for the maps. You can also enable Automatic Updates for maps from this page.
There’s also an option for Only Use Offline Maps. If you enable this option on, you’ll see Using Offline Maps across the top of your map when you use it. The area of the map you downloaded will appear as normal while the area outside the map will have a grid over it. You can also tap the Using Offline Maps banner to get back to the offline maps settings page, too.
Offline maps will get you to your destination but expect a few issues
Using offline maps was similar to using the Maps app when online. You open your Maps app, type in where you want to go and hit Go. You can also select your mode of transportation and whether you want to add any stops along the way.Â
When you’re on the road, offline maps act similarly to online maps. The map follows you and shows nearby restaurants and businesses. If you’re driving, offline maps will also show you the speed limit for the street you’re on. Siri will read out directions the whole way, telling you when to turn and where your destination is on the street.
There are a few differences between offline and online maps. The biggest issue is it won’t know exactly when you’ll get to your destination. When you look up directions, offline maps will display an estimated time of arrival but they can’t take into account real-time traffic patterns because it’s offline.
When I used offline maps to find my way to a downtown restaurant after an NFL game, for example, offline maps told me it would take me about 15 minutes to get to my destination. In reality, it ended up taking me about 40 minutes to fight through traffic and get to dinner.Â
That leads to my second issue with offline maps: If you veer off its path, it takes a while to recalibrate and find you again. When getting through the traffic mentioned above, I took a few impromptu turns down side streets and offline maps still showed me where I turned off the path for a minute or so.
Otherwise, offline maps take things back to the days of physical maps. You may not be able to predict how much traffic will delay your drive and if you take a wrong turn it might take you a second to figure out how to get back, but you can get to your destination … eventually. Pack some snacks just in case.
For more iOS news, here’s my review of the iOS 26, how to reduce the Liquid Glass effects in the update and how text screening works in the update. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet.
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Technologies
U.S., Iran hold separate mediator talks as Mideast oil exports hit war-time high
Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire, as Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to war-time high.
Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire.
Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February.
An outright export ban by Washington on diesel would keep roughly 1.2 million barrels a day at home, and risks overwhelming Gulf Coast storage, according to Kpler.
The building of the destroyed Shajareh Tayebeh primary school is pictured surrounded by rubble in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on August 10, 2026. Six months on, a team of AFP journalists obtained rare access to the school which has remained largely in ruins, its collapsed walls and twisted steel now surrounded by portraits of the children killed as Iranian flags flutter above the rubble. Iran says the attack on the school involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles but neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility for the strike. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /
Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly held separate indirect talks with mediators on Monday, reviving efforts to end seven months of war as Tehran presses for a response to a revised ceasefire framework and Middle East crude exports climb to their highest level since the conflict began.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York, where he remained after the United Nations General Assembly, and reportedly said he expects Washington’s reply by Tuesday. “We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions,” Araghchi said, adding that he planned to return to Tehran once a response arrives. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”
Iran’s proposal, first presented on the sidelines of last week’s General Assembly, calls for a four- to five-day U.S. timeline to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks beginning within seven days. Tehran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to those steps.
President Donald Trump had on Sunday called the plan “unacceptable” and rejected it, telling reporters Iran wants a swift deal because of the economic pressure it is under. Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump said U.S. officials had spoken separately with mediators but gave no further details, adding: “We’re going to win. It’s going to go pretty quickly.”
The diplomatic push comes as physical supply data shows the war’s toll on the oil market easing. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, Kpler data showed. “Middle East crude exports at just under 80% of pre-conflict levels,” the tracking firm said in a note on Monday.
The Strait of Hormuz itself remains far from normal. Kpler’s real-time tracking showed total clearance through the strait at 10,591 kilobarrels a day on Saturday, against a pre-war baseline of 17,133.
Technologies
Oil prices fall as crude exports recover at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports
Saudi Arabia has restored flows through the pipeline to around 3.5 million barrels per day, according to media reports.
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