Your Wear OS watch can now guide you home even without internet

Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

Google announced a couple of new Wear OS features alongside the launch of the Pixel Watch 3 last month. Among these was offline map support in Google Maps. The feature rolled out to a few flagship smartwatches shortly after the event, and Google has now officially announced wider availability.

In addition to uploading Android 15 source code to AOSP, Google today revealed five new features rolling out to users. These include improvements for Android’s TalkBack screen reader, music search support in Circle to Search, Chrome read-aloud, Earthquake Alerts System expansion, and offline maps support in Google Maps for Wear OS.

With offline maps support rolling out widely, users should now be able to access downloaded maps in Google Maps on their Wear OS devices. To use this feature, you’ll first have to head over to the Offline maps setting in Google Maps on your phone and download a map of an area by using the “Select your own map” option. Once Google Maps downloads a map of the selected area, you’ll see a new toast stating “Download completed. Just use Maps normally on all devices, even when offline.”

Google Maps will automatically sync the downloaded map on your Wear OS smartwatch, and you’ll be able to access it without an active network connection. Offline maps will also be available even if your smartwatch is not connected to your phone, making this feature quite useful in case you accidentally lose your phone or leave it at home when going out for a run.

Google has also added two new shortcuts to Maps on Wear OS. These shortcuts let you search for destinations using your voice or view your surroundings using the redesigned Wear OS tile. These features will be available on all smartwatches running the latest version of Google Maps for Wear OS.

Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at [email protected]. You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.