Any way to use google maps offline even a portion of it?

Issue

I saw many questions here for the same topic "Using offline maps in Android Application". I'm wondering if there is any way around to solve this issue or there are any changes in the new API version that allow this ?

I think about using the google maps applications offline data in my app but I don't know if this should work and how to do it. And also this will require the users to download the maps first using google maps app.

Some offered solutions here is to use http://code.google.com/p/osmdroid/ or similar ones. I don't know how much reliable those solutions are. Have you sold an application using some of those libraries before and much reliable is it?

Thanks in advance

Solution

Osmdroid works well and you can use a number of different tile sources with it, although OpenStreetMap is the most versatile and widely used. OSM can be used legally offline if you download the tiles for a particular area using a utlity program such as MOBAC.

It is very similar in coding terms to the Google Maps API. The main differences being that it requires no API key and it can be accessed from a normal Activity, as opposed to a MapActivity. I use it all the time in my private app as my default pocket map for the London area, as it requires no data connection at all.

Answered By - NickT