Built-in iPhone Google Maps not useful? Think again…

Almost everyone knows the Jam Jar in Dubai, a cozy little place that hosted Dubai’s Twestival last September. For people who haven’t heard of that place before, like myself, along with the gazillion other art galleries scattered in the labyrinth of Al Qouz industrial area, you’d probably be better off locating it on GPS or printing the map.

iPhone’s native Google Maps app might be handy if you’re on a data plan as you can connect and download as you drive. With the overabundance of unlocked iPhones though, more often than not you’ll find a guy (like myself) or a girl without the benefits of 24/7 connectivity. So how do you get to Jam Jar? xGPS from Cydia (if your iPhone is Jailbroken) does an OK job for general navigation, though it’s clunky and lacks the bells and whistles of Google Maps.

The solution arrives from BigBoss repository in the name of Maps Enhancer. What Maps Enhancer does is that it retains the cache from the native Google Maps app. All you need to do is connect to your home wireless, launch Google Maps, zoom in to the desired level and keep panning left, right, up and down to cover your areas of interest in Dubai. It’s inconvenient to pan manually (as opposed to selecting an area of download in xGPS) but in 10 minutes you’ll get yourself a big enough portion to get you by.

Open your Cydia (if your iPhone is Jailbroken) and search for Maps Enhancer. Once installed, you get an entry in your Settings informing you of some options you might want to consider, though the default options are good to go. After downloading your areas of interest and bookmarking with pins, you’re ready to take on the roads. Once outside, the Google Maps will complain about the lack of connectivity. Ignore the popup and enjoy your cached maps!