Question

On the maps app in the IPad when you tap a pin you get a normal annotation with an “i” instead of a disclosure indicator. A further tap on the “i” reveals a popover view controller like this.

Is there a way to easily achieve this?

Answer 1

First add an annotation to the map and in the viewForAnnotation method, set the rightCalloutAccessoryView to a button of type, say, UIButtonTypeDetailDisclosure (I don’t think the blue info button is available by default).

Pressing the button will call the calloutAccessoryControlTapped delegate method. In this method, deselect the annotation and show your popover. For example:

- (void)mapView:(MKMapView *)mapView annotationView:(MKAnnotationView *)view calloutAccessoryControlTapped:(UIControl *)control
{
    [mapView deselectAnnotation:view.annotation animated:YES];

    YourContentViewController *ycvc = [[YourContentViewController alloc] init...
    UIPopoverController *poc = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:ycvc];
    [ycvc release];

    //hold ref to popover in an ivar
    self.annotationPopoverController = poc;

    //size as needed
    poc.popoverContentSize = CGSizeMake(320, 400);

    //show the popover next to the annotation view (pin)
    [poc presentPopoverFromRect:view.bounds inView:view 
        permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny animated:YES];

    [poc release];
}

YourContentViewController is a subclass of UIViewController which you can code like any other view controller. The Maps app looks like it has UITableView in the content.