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Working offline

Take a map into the field with no signal — save the basemap, layers and photos to your device, keep editing, and sync when you're back.

DropMaps keeps your maps on your device, so they open and edit with no connection. A few things come from the internet, such as the basemap, cloud tile layers and photos added on other devices. Save those before you head out and the whole map works offline.

A weed survey along a bush track: make the map offline ready, then record a new site with no connection.

Before you go: make the map offline ready

Open Map settings ▸ Offline. The top line tells you where you stand, e.g. Ready to use offline or Some parts can’t be used offline yet. Select Make offline ready to download everything that’s missing in one go.

The Checklist shows each part and saves any that are missing:

  • App: DropMaps itself. If it says Reload, reload once while you’re online.
  • Basemap: the background map for this map’s area, with an estimated size. Select Save. Only DropMaps basemaps can be saved. If the map covers too wide an area, save smaller areas under Basemap areas.
  • Bookmarks: Save all saves the basemap around each bookmark.
  • Layers: expand it to see each layer. Cloud tile layers have a Download button, and layers with linked attachments have Attachments. Download all gets them together.
  • Photos: photos added on other devices stream from the cloud. Keep offline copies this map’s photos to the device and keeps them up to date.
  • Unsent edits: edits saved on this device that haven’t reached the cloud yet.
  • Storage: Protect asks the browser not to clear your saved maps when space runs low. Installing DropMaps as an app usually makes this work.

Offline basemap areas

To save the basemap for somewhere other than the map’s own area, use Basemap areas in the Offline tab or Offline areas in the Basemap panel. Select Save an area for offline…, then choose:

  • Area: The view on screen, the map’s area, or one of its bookmarks.
  • Name.
  • Detail: Overview (towns and main roads), Streets (every road and place name) or Full detail (buildings and house numbers). Each shows its estimated size. A level that’s too big for the area says so; zoom in first.

Zooming in past the saved detail still works offline, just without extra detail. Saved areas can be updated, stopped mid-download, zoomed to or deleted from the list.

Working with no connection

With the map ready, carry on as normal:

  • Add and edit features, fill in forms, take photos and use My location or GPS streaming. GPS needs no data connection.
  • The sync chip in the map header shows Offline and how many edits are waiting.
  • Edits queue on the device and upload automatically when you’re back online, in the order you made them.

Some things need a connection and are disabled until you have one: Share, External sources, adding layers from a URL, and signing in.

Keep a tile layer or photos on this device

You can also keep things offline from where you use them:

  • A cloud tile layer’s menu has Keep on this device (offline).
  • A map’s card in your Maps list has Keep photos offline.

Free up space

Back online, the Free up space section of the Offline tab lists the device copies of things that are also in the cloud, with their sizes. Remove copy (or Free all cloud copies) deletes the device copy. The data streams from the cloud again whenever you need it. Downloaded photos from other devices can be removed the same way.

Tips

  • Install DropMaps as an app (Add to Home Screen on a phone, or the install button in your browser’s address bar). It opens with no connection and is less likely to have its storage cleared.
  • Open the map once on the device you’ll take out, while you’re still online.
  • Big imagery and tile files are fastest offline as a local file, such as a PMTiles or COG made with the Tile Converter.

Next steps