TripAdvisor Adds Offline Functionality to Smartphone App

TripAdvisor has added a new offline feature to its smartphone app, which allows travellers to download TripAdvisor reviews, photos and city maps before they go and then access this information on their trip, even when no data connection is available.

At launch, the feature includes more than 300 city maps worldwide, with more to follow.

“The new offline feature for TripAdvisor’s smartphone app makes it an even more valuable ‘must have’ tool during your trip,” said Adam Medros, senior vice president of global product, TripAdvisor. “More and more travellers are making spur-of-the-moment decisions about where to go and what to do and need a useful travel resource. Travellers can now access user reviews, photos and maps throughout their trip to help them pick last-minute hotels, restaurants and attractions to visit–all while avoiding costly roaming charges.”

To access the new offline feature, TripAdvisor app users may search for a city within the app when a data connection is available and tap a button to download city content. Once downloaded, the app will automatically transition between the offline mode featuring 10 reviews per point of interest when no data connection is available, and the full live version of the app when it is cellular or Wi-Fi-connected.

Users can add and remove city maps as needed based on where they are visiting. Users can also download the latest version of the city map to sync the content with the reviews and opinions available on TripAdvisor’s constantly refreshed live site.

The new offline feature has rolled out to all countries and languages where the TripAdvisor app is presently available on iOS and Android smartphones.