Is there a good way to save all the map tiles needed for a certain area when the user first logs into the app and the map is displayed? So pre-cache them and save them as resources in the xcode project?
Or download them the first time the app is used with internet connectivity and have them always available at later dates when the app is started without internet connectivity the map will still draw ok for that area.
The reason I asked is because the map is always focused on the Paris area. I would like it to always have these tiles available when the app starts even when there is no internet connectivity available.
There isn’t anything available to do this, there would be ways of course, but it would involve hacks. You could for example, save up all the tiles you need from Google Maps in the browser (on your work machine), add them to the project as PNGs and map them to the correct tiles in the map view.
Then you’re going to run into more problems with Apple about using Google tiles.
In short, there’s no easy, recommended way to do it. But, if your app is for Paris, logically the bulk of your real world users would be in Paris, the Maps app shares it’s cache to third party apps, so in theory the experience shouldn’t be too shabby anyway.