If you are a frequent user of Google Maps on your smartphone or tablet then I'm sure you would be lost without it if you ever traveled. Then again if you didn't have any reception where you were then you may actually get lost without it! As you may know or may have seen, if you don't have proper coverage in an area then you won't be able to use Google Maps or Google Navigation to get you to your destination.
Google Maps for Android has a hidden feature that will allow you to pre-cache maps up to a 10 mile radius in distance so if you know you will be in a place that doesn't have service or want to play it safe just in case then you can cache the map data so you will still be able to use the Maps application to get around. One thing you need to know is that it will only cache the map layer and not other layers like satellite or traffic.
To enable map pre-caching, open Google Maps and go into Settings and then into the Labs section. Labs is where Google tests additional features for Maps until they decide they are ready for production or decide they won't be using that feature. Find the section that says Pre-cache map area and tap on it to enable it. You will notice a green check mark by it indicated that it's enabled.
To cache a map navigate to where you will be going and then long press on the map in that area and tap on the bubble that appears. It doesn't matter if the bubble location is where you are going as long as it's nearby. Now that you enabled the pre-caching setting you should have an option to choose Pre-cache map area which you can tap to have it download the map information to your device which should take a minute or two. Then it will go back to the map view and show you the location that was cached by drawing a box around the area.
Like stated before this is an experimental setting for now so in the future it may be added as a permanent feature or it may go away completely.
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