Google My Maps on iPhone

April 18, 2014 7:32 PM

Can anyone update the answers to this question about viewing the Google maps I've created (My Maps, My Places, or whatever it's called now) on an iPhone?

Whenever we travel, I create a map in Google Maps, and my husband and I load it up with points of interest, restaurants, museums, etc. that we want to visit. I'd like to be able to view these maps on my iPhone while we're out and about, to see the places I've added in relation to where we are on the map. Assume I have an internet connection and don't need the maps offline. I have an iPhone 5 running iOS 7.

Here's what I've already tried:

I can open the Google maps I created in Google Earth on my iPhone. The interface is clunky and you get buildings when I just want a map with streets.

My Maps Editor app: I get "Failed to load maps (Error Code:400, Request Quota Exceeded)" when I try to load my maps. The developer's site says only "We'll be back soon."

My Places for Google Maps app: Terrible reviews so I didn't bother with this.

I used to use an app called The Cartographer, but it's been retired. My old maps still show up in the app, but I can't add any new ones.

posted by Joleta to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

It's not perfect, but what worked for me was going to google maps through safari, signing in and pulling up my map, then creating a link to that on my home screen. But you'll need a wifi or data connection for that to work.
posted by greta simone at 6:36 AM on April 19, 2014

Best answer: I travel like that too, and I use My Maps Editor after trying a number of different iOS mapplications.

About a year ago I started getting the "Failed to load maps" error in My Maps Editor when trying to log into my Google account. But it *will* work if you go to the "Created by others" section and say "Add Online/KML map", then paste in a link to your own map. Once it's loaded that way there are no problems with viewing or refreshing the map.
posted by Gortuk at 6:45 AM on April 19, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks Gortuk. I did a bit more research and found a review of My Maps Editor that mentioned turning off the Google Fusion Tables option in the Settings for My Maps Editor (in iOS Settings, not the app itself). I did this and all my custom maps showed up. That's a lot easier than copying and pasting the URL for each one, particularly because the new Google Maps with URLs that begin mapsengine.google.com do not load as online/KML maps in My Maps Editor. (Only the old-style Google Maps that begin maps.google.com will load this way.)
posted by Joleta at 3:14 PM on April 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

Thanks Joleta - turning off Fusion Tables did the trick for me too.
posted by Gortuk at 11:17 AM on April 21, 2014

Response by poster: I just stopped in to give an update. My Maps Editor now will not load any of my Google Maps. I found and purchased New My Maps Viewer for $2.99 (iPhone and iPad) which has pulled in all my new-style Google maps and seems like it will do what I need. If you're using the old-style Google maps, the developer also has My Maps.
posted by Joleta at 7:39 AM on October 16, 2014