MapKit & Maps Server API: Cross-Border Search Limitations in Mainland China

Hello,

We are developing an application for users located in mainland China who need to plan outbound travel. Users need to search for locations outside mainland China and view rich information provided by Apple Maps services on a map. We have encountered certain limitations in MapKit’s behavior and would like to confirm the boundaries of the public API.

Background and observations :

1. Feedback report FB13557287 (originally filed on macOS 14.2) describes the following: when developers use MKLocalSearchCompleter, users in mainland China receive only results within mainland China. Searches for overseas locations such as “New York” or “Berlin” return no results, and using a VPN reportedly does not improve the situation. The developer quoted Apple’s response as “This is expected.” Is this still the expected behavior on the current versions of iOS/iPadOS/macOS 27? If the behavior has changed, what is the correct configuration?
2. On the same device located in mainland China, the Apple Maps app can display overseas map data, and in our tests it can also return overseas locations. The China-region attribution page (https://gspe21-ssl.ls.apple.com/html/attribution-cn2-98.html) lists the data providers for mainland China and states, “Sources for map data outside China can be found here.” This appears to indicate that the Maps app uses a dual-data-source model combining mainland China data with global data. At the same time, we cannot find overseas locations in the “Add Location” feature of Reminders and Journal, which is consistent with the behavior we have observed in the public MapKit APIs.

Questions :

1. Can third-party applications obtain the same cross-border data capabilities as the Apple Maps app through public MapKit APIs? If so, which APIs, configurations, or entitlements are required?
2. If not, is this an intentional design decision? Could this be explicitly documented in the MapKit documentation?
3. Does the Maps app select its data source based on the map viewport or individual requests, while MapKit selects a single data source based on the device’s region? If so, do the public APIs allow an application to specify a data source per request?
4. If public MapKit APIs cannot support this scenario, what architecture does Apple recommend as best practice?
5. Are the same regional restrictions applicable to the Apple Maps Server API? Specifically, when /v1/search is called from a backend or account operating within mainland China’s network environment, can overseas results be returned when limitToCountries or searchRegion is configured? Does /v1/directions support cross-border routing?

We are not asking about private APIs or seeking ways to bypass regional restrictions. Our goal is to understand the supported boundaries of the public APIs so that we can make appropriate product-design decisions.

Thank you.