Offline (pre-cache) Google Maps won't work in some areas

[delong72]

Device:Xperia Play
OS / Browser / build number (if applicable): Android 2.3.2

Hi all, I have tested the latest Google Map application and it's wonderful pre-cache function which is able to view map offline. I have pre-cached map on Singapore and Tokyo and it works perfectly. I am able to zoom in maximum without problems. All streets name are very clear.

I have also pre-cached the map of Seoul city center. But it doesn't work quite the way I expected. When I zoom in maximum, the map only become blur and street name are not clear, much like zooming in on an image. The map of Seoul stop vectorizing to certain level unlike the Tokyo and Singapore map. Any idea why this happen? Do you guys experience the same thing?
Update:
This is how I test the offline google map.
1) Turn on WIFI
2) Select the area to pre-cache
3) Turn off WIFI
4) Go back the pre-cached map and Zoom in to the maximum.

 

[Don Suave]

I have also pre-cached the map of Seoul city center. But it doesn't work quite the way I expected. When I zoom in maximum, the map only become blur and street name are not clear, much like zooming in on an image. The map of Seoul stop vectorizing to certain level unlike the Tokyo and Singapore map. Any idea why this happen? Do you guys experience the same thing?

That's because Seoul is 25km from the 'border' (= really armistice line) with North Korea, with which they are technically still at war (since 1950). Seoul is a war zone! Accurate maps of the target area are a godsend for artillery bombardments. A favorite m.o. of the North Koreans, as they demoed last fall again.
That's why satellite maps of Seoul have deliberately been degraded by the US DoD, who owns and manages the GPS system. Exactly like they have most of the Middle East.

The fact that the US can do that, and actually do, as you see, makes the GPS system defacto unreliable for the rest of the world. And that is reason for the Europeans to launch the Galileo satnav system, for the Russians to launch the GLONASS satnav system, for the Chinese to launch the COMPASS system, and for the Indians to launch the RSNS satnav system. And the Australians and Brasilians are contemplating the same thing. For the same reason.

Add to that the fact that the GPS satellites will start dropping out of the sky in 2013, and that the US cannot afford to replace or repair the system because they're broke, and you may seriously ask yourself whether there will still be a GPS system for your phone to detect in 2 years...

I think there won't be.
But our phones are not (yet) capable of working with these other, new systems...
Only the just announced and not yet for sale Samsung Note is capable of working with an alternative satnav system: GLONASS.

 

[blackdog709]

Where are the maps actually cached? I cannot see them on internal memory or on the external microSD (Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 operating 3.5.0)

GoogleMaps and Navigations are so great...and free. Now, for those of us that are not on data (wifi only devices) or those with data caps, I'd be willing to PAY for a whole database of Google Maps stored on my SD card. So now you'd have the maps similar to Copilot or Sygic, but with all the power and integration of GoogleMaps.