Question

The thumbnail image shown in the info view of Maps app is UIImageView or MKMapView? Or it is something else? I have posted the screen shot marking the thumbnail with red circle.

Screen Shot (Taken from the Maps app):

I want to display a thumbnail image like this when a pin is selected in a map view of my app.

How can I do this?

I noticed the following things about this thumbnail:

1. Considering it as an Image: I set the map view type to “Satellite” and opened the info view using the pin. But the thumbnail is still showing in the “Default” type (as in the screen shot) as always. So I guess the thumbnail is not taken from the map using renderInContext: method. So where does it come from?

2. Considering it as a map view: While the Info view is opening I noticed that the thumbnail is loading like how a map view loads. I mean, I can see the empty grids before the actual thumbnail is displayed(loaded?). So I guess this can be a small map view.

Note: I Implemented this using MKMapView with the frame size 64×64. But the “Google” watermark is displayed on the map.

What is it actually? I want to implement this in a right way. I need your guidance.

Answer 1

It could be an MKMapView but clipped to a smaller superview. I’m sure Apple was able to get permission from Google to use that thumbnail without the Google logo (probably because the main map view shows the watermark prominently).

The official Twitter app for iPhone (formerly Tweetie) also shows a static map thumbnail sans Google logo when viewing a tweet with a location. Tapping on the map shows you a full-screen map that does show the logo. Maybe they also got special permission, or maybe it’s ok because the full-screen map shows the logo. But I am not a lawyer.

Finally, as an alternative to MKMapView, it’s possible to get a map image directly from Google using the Google Static Maps API. But that also requires showing the Google logo (in this case it’s even more prominent).