Maps & Location

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Learn how to integrate MapKit and Core Location to unlock the power of location-based features in your app.

Maps & Location Documentation

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App Clip Not Launching From Approved Apple Maps Action Link
We’ve set up an advanced App Clip experience that successfully launches when a user scans our QR code. However, the same App Clip invocation URL does not launch when tapping the associated Action Link on our Apple Place Card in Apple Maps. Instead of opening the App Clip, the link falls back to the website. What We Have Done So Far: App Clip Launched in App Store Connect: Our App Clip is approved and live on the App Store. Here is the invocation URL: https://appclip.parkzenapp.com/park?q=oJrbSIgx Below is the QR code for our Advanced App Clip experience we are attempting to open in our Apple Maps Place card When scanning the QR code that uses the same App Clip invocation URL, the App Clip reliably launches as expected. Here is our apple-app-site-association file, thats correctly served from the associated domain: https://appclip.parkzenapp.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association Add here is a screenshot showing how the appclip.parkzenapp.com domain is correctly validated. Advanced App Clip Experience: We created and submitted an advanced App Clip Experience specifically tied to our location on Apple Maps. This App Clip Experience is approved and live. Below is an image of our set up of this Advanced App Clip Experience Business Connect: We've created the Apple Maps Location in business connect and added the advanced App Clip experience invocation URL as an Action Link in the place card. See screenshot below. Apple Maps Place: https://maps.apple.com/place?auid=906421750045811407 Despite meeting these conditions, when a user taps the Action Link (the "Reserve" button in the Apple Maps Place Card), the fallback website opens rather than the App Clip. Question: What additional step or configuration might we be missing to ensure the Action Link on our Apple Maps place card triggers the App Clip instead of the website? Thank you
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473
Dec ’24
Background location tracking on iPad fails
My app needs to track background location for a period of several hours while the user is using it, and we want to allow the user to switch apps or lock their phone while this is happening. We don't need to track location permanently and because of this, we don't want to request the "Always allow" permission. The app requests "While in use" permission and it has the "Location updates" background mode enabled. The CLLocationManager has 'allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates' set to true, 'pausesLocationUpdatesAutomatically' false, kCLLocationAccuracyBest, kCLDistanceFilterNone, and .fitness for the activity type (we expect the user to be walking). The app also initializes a CLBackgroundActivitySession while it is tracking location and invalidates it when done. When I test this combination on my iPhone, it works fine. I get location tracking in the background for as long as I need it, regardless of what else I do with the phone. However, my customer says it doesn't work for him. He is using a Wifi-only iPad with an external GPS receiver called "BadElf GPS Pro". He says that the external GPS receiver works fine with other apps on his iPad. With my app, he gets background location tracking only for a short time, and then it stops. The app does monitor the "locationManagerDidPauseLocationUpdates" callback and posts a local notification if it gets called, but it doesn't get called. I've also confirmed with him that he is not force-quitting the app and the app is not otherwise being terminated by iOS. Is there something I'm missing?
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Feb ’25
Inquiry About Background Permission Issue in My App
I am writing to address a concern regarding the background permission functionality in my app, which is critical for ensuring user safety as they navigate various terrains. This feature also enables users to smoothly record their navigation tracks for review after their activities. Recently, I've noticed that this functionality is not working as seamlessly as before. Additionally, I observed that the app is not categorized under 'health and fitness'—could reclassifying it improve background activity? Before I delve into a detailed code review, I wanted to check if this issue might be related to sync or settings on the App Store side, such as permission configurations, app updates, or other related factors. Or, is it more likely an issue stemming from the app’s codebase?
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Jan ’25
Detecting Driving State with Core Motion Framework - Automotive Accuracy Issues
I am working on an iOS app where I need to detect when a user starts and stops driving using the Apple Core Motion framework. I've implemented the following MotionActivityManager class to handle activity updates and display the detected states in a SwiftUI view. While I can accurately detect "Stationary" and "Walking" states, detecting the "Driving" (Automotive) state has been unreliable. The accuracy often fails, and the framework frequently misclassifies driving as other states like "Unknown" or "Walking." Here's the implementation: @Published var motionStates: [MotionState] = [] @Published var startDate: String = "" @Published var confidence: String = "" init() { setupDefaultStates() startActivityUpdates() } private func setupDefaultStates() { motionStates = [ MotionState(label: "Stationary", value: false), MotionState(label: "Walking", value: false), MotionState(label: "Running", value: false), MotionState(label: "Automotive", value: false), MotionState(label: "Cycling", value: false), MotionState(label: "Unknown", value: false) ] } func startActivityUpdates() { guard CMMotionActivityManager.isActivityAvailable() else { print("Motion activity is not available.") return } motionActivityManager.startActivityUpdates(to: .main) { [weak self] motion in guard let self = self, let motion = motion else { return } DispatchQueue.main.async { self.updateProperties(with: motion) } } } private func updateProperties(with motion: CMMotionActivity) { motionStates = [ MotionState(label: "Stationary", value: motion.stationary), MotionState(label: "Walking", value: motion.walking), MotionState(label: "Running", value: motion.running), MotionState(label: "Automotive", value: motion.automotive), MotionState(label: "Cycling", value: motion.cycling), MotionState(label: "Unknown", value: motion.unknown) ] startDate = dateFormatter.string(from: motion.startDate) switch motion.confidence { case .low: confidence = "Low" case .medium: confidence = "Medium" case .high: confidence = "High" @unknown default: confidence = "Unknown" } } } struct MotionState: Identifiable { let id = UUID() let label: String let value: Bool } struct ContentView: View { @StateObject private var motionManager = MotionActivityManager() var body: some View { ScrollView { VStack(spacing: 16) { ForEach(motionManager.motionStates) { state in LabelView(label: state.label, value: state.value ? "True" : "False") } LabelView(label: "Confidence", value: motionManager.confidence) } .padding() } .onAppear { UIApplication.shared.isIdleTimerDisabled = true motionManager.startActivityUpdates() } .navigationTitle("Motion Activity") } } Issues: The motion.automotive state is often not detected accurately. The confidence level remains low for the automotive state, even when the device is clearly in a car. How can I improve the detection accuracy of the "Driving" state using the Core Motion framework?
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Jan ’25
New CoreLocation APIs
Hi All, I am currently working on an app that has some navigation functionality, and since my minimum iOS is 18 wanted to incorporate the new APIs that yield a AsyncStream of locations. I have watched both WWDC sessions, the one where the new API is introduced to retrieve the location points, and also the other video where the new authorization process for location is simplified as well. I have an app currently working in its current state, but am noticing some weird quirks when using the CLBackgroundActivitySession to get the elevated background permission. What I am doing here is to create this stream and the background object is below: return AsyncThrowingStream { continuation in let task = Task { do { for try await update in CLLocationUpdate.liveUpdates(updateType) { if shouldStopUpdate { continuation.finish() break } continuation.yield(update) } } catch { continuation.finish(throwing: error) } } state = .started(locationTask: task, background: CLBackgroundActivitySession()) } When I have an active navigation session going and am strongly holding this object and the user force quits the app (or I stop the target through Xcode) the navigation activity indicator in the status bar (or dynamic island) remains present. Even if I relaunch the app, start navigation again, and then call the invalidate method on the CLBackgroundActivitySession I then am seeing that navigation indicator even if I delete my app, and often need to do a full restart to get out of this state. Is there a step I am missing, or do I not understand the way the new API works to run in the background?
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Jan ’25
Documentation of parameters to enable Apple Maps EV routing
Hi, I'm building an aftermarket solution to enable Apple Maps to support EV routing for any EV. I am going through the documentation and found some gaps - does anyone know how the following properties work? INGetCarPowerLevelStatusIntentResponse - consumptionFormulaArguments INGetCarPowerLevelStatusIntentResponse - chargingFormulaArguments Is there a working example that anyone has seen? Many thanks
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Jan ’25
How can you determine if the map tiles in MapKit have successfully loaded?
We are developers of a golf app designed to assist golfers on the course. A key feature of our app is displaying a map of each hole, and we are currently transitioning to using MapKit and camera functionalities for this purpose. However, we are encountering issues with the downloading of map tiles when using the default satellite imagery. We have tried several approaches to diagnose the issue: We have tried several things to diagnose the issue: We implemented the mapViewDidFailLoadingMap delegate method. But it is inconsistent, sometimes triggering offline errors even when map tiles are cached. We implemented, the mapViewDidFinishRenderingMap method, but it always returns false when offline or you won't get the callback. Which doesn't let us know that rendering tiles has failed. We would appreciate your guidance on the following specific questions: Does MapKit provide a way to confirm if a map tile has fully loaded? Is there a method to detect if a portion of the map hasn't loaded or if a tile request has failed? Can we determine whether a map tile is cached, and if so, how long it will remain cached, similar to Cache-Control HTTP headers? Is there a way to trigger the preloading of map tiles when we know the user has a good internet connection? Please see the sample project for steps to reproduce the issue. Thank you for any assistance!
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Jan ’25
Location Push Service Extension in Limbo
Hi everyone, I submitted a request for the Location Push Service Extension entitlement back in November. I received an acknowledgment email from Apple confirming they had received my request, but I never heard back. Assuming the November request might have been lost in the shuffle, I submitted another request in January. It's been a week since then, and I still haven’t received any response. To follow up, I contacted Apple Support with my case number. Unfortunately, it seems they didn’t review the case properly, as the support assistant just sent me generic links about what to do when an app is rejected—which doesn’t apply here. Has anyone else experienced similar delays with this entitlement? Could there be specific reasons for such delays? Any tips on how to escalate this or get it addressed effectively would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!
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Jan ’25
Rotate mapkit.ImageAnnotation
Hello I'd like to be able to rotate an mapkit.ImageAnnotation. From this post on Stack Overflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/78686475/need-to-style-a-mapkit-js-marker-annotation/78702266#78702266 I understand that it's possible, for example, to the following: map.annotations[0].element.style.cursor = "pointer"; and this works for me. However, I need to do something like the following, but it doesn't work: map.annotations[0].element.style.transform = "rotate(90deg) "; Any ideas how a mapkit.ImageAnnotation and mapkit.MarkerAnnotation can be rotated? Thanks in advance Sam
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Jan ’25
MapKit UseAnnotation
using the UseAnnotation in the map content does not show the blue user location. I added the info.plist info. Error message: CLLocationManager(<CLLocationManager: 0x300e60d40>) for <MKCoreLocationProvider: 0x303e0e6d0> did fail with error: Error Domain=kCLErrorDomain Code=1 "(null)"
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325
Jan ’25
MapkitJS Snapshot
I am having issues loading in a mapkit snapshot. I get an error saying that https://domain.com and they're expecting domain.com. I have no idea what could be going wrong here. I set the domains properly in the mapkit tokens. When I click on the link it opens a new tab and loads what the data properly, but somehow in the application on production this error comes up.
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338
Jan ’25
How to Reduce Geolocation Drifting Inside Buildings on iOS?
I am developing a Flutter app that uses geolocation data extensively. While the location accuracy is excellent under an open sky, I’ve noticed significant drifting when users are inside large buildings. This impacts the app’s functionality as precise location data is critical. I would like to know: Are there any specific configurations or APIs available in the Apple ecosystem to enhance indoor geolocation accuracy? Would combining GPS with other location technologies (like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) reduce drifting effectively? Are there recommended practices for handling geolocation indoors on iOS? Any advice, examples, or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
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Jan ’25
iOS 18: startRangingBeacons Stops When Display is Off in Background (Worked on iOS 17.2.1)
Issue Summary After calling startRangingBeacons, the didRangeBeacons delegate method does not receive iBeacon scan data when the device display is turned off in the background. Expected Behavior On iOS 17.2.1 (iPhone 14), beacon ranging continues in the background even when the display is turned off. The same behavior is expected on iOS 18, but it is not working as intended. Observed Behavior On iOS 18, once the display turns off, beacon ranging stops, and the didRangeBeacons method is not triggered until the display is turned back on. • Location permission is set to “Always Allow.” • Background Modes are correctly configured (Location Updates enabled). Steps to Reproduce Ensure location permission is set to Always Allow. Enable Background Modes → Location Updates in Xcode settings. Call startRangingBeacons(in:) in the app. Put the app in the background and turn off the display. Observe that didRangeBeacons is not triggered while the display is off. Additional Notes • The issue does not occur on iOS 17.2.1 (iPhone 14), where beacon ranging continues even with the display off. • This behavior change is observed on iOS 18 across multiple devices. Could you confirm if this is an intended change in behavior or a bug? If this is expected behavior, what alternative approach is recommended to maintain continuous beacon ranging when the display is off in the background?
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Feb ’25
LookAroundPreview navigation not working on macOS
The code below using LookAroundPreview works fine on iOS (showing the preview image with a button saying "Look Around" at the top to enter full screen with navigation), but on macOS (15.3) there is no button and no way to navigate the view. Is this a bug or is there something I need to do differently on macOS? I have also tried using AppKit with MKLookAroundViewController and I don't seem get the button to launch full screen there either. import SwiftUI import MapKit struct ContentView: View { var body: some View { LookAroundPreviewView(coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 37.33182, longitude: -122.03118)) .frame(width: 300, height: 200) } } struct LookAroundPreviewView: View { let coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D @State private var scene: MKLookAroundScene? @State private var errorMessage: String? var body: some View { Group { if scene != nil { LookAroundPreview(scene: $scene, allowsNavigation: true) } else if let errorMessage = errorMessage { Text("Error: \(errorMessage)") .foregroundColor(.red) } else { ProgressView("Loading Look Around Preview...") } } .task { do { let request = MKLookAroundSceneRequest(coordinate: coordinate) let fetchedScene = try await request.scene scene = fetchedScene } catch { errorMessage = error.localizedDescription print("Error loading Look Around scene: \(error)") } } } }
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Feb ’25
Underground location (in subway) doesn't update properly
We (at the NYC MTA) are building a new subway/bus app and diving deep into location tracking on iOS. We’re encountering an issue with how Core Location functions in the subway, specifically regarding how long it takes to update a passenger’s location as they travel from station to station. As an example, please see this video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yaddkjyPEETvTEmClPAJ2wks8b-_whqB/view?usp=sharing The red dot is set manually (via a tap gesture) and represents the ground truth of where the phone actually is at that moment. The most critical moment to observe is when the train physically arrives at a station (i.e., when I can see the platform outside my window). At this moment, I update the red dot to the center of the station on the map. Similarly, I adjust the red dot when the train departs a station, placing it just outside the station in the direction of travel. The trip shown is from Rector St to 14 St. All times are in EST. I’d like to investigate this issue further since providing a seamless underground location experience is crucial for customers. As a point of comparison, Android phones exhibit near-perfect behavior, proving that this is technically feasible. We want to ensure the iOS experience is just as smooth.
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Feb ’25
CMAltimeter becomes somehow uncalibrated: absolute locations not delivered anymore (temporarily)
Note: I have had issues with CMAltimeter since whats seems to have been a major undocumented modification since iOS 17.4. So I'm using the CMAltimeter absolute locations delivery. Sometimes, the altimeter seems to be in an uncalibrated mode and therefore, no altitude delivery happens. Is there a way to be inform of such state? Currently, it just doesn't work and I can't inform the user about this. They just think the app is broken What message should I give to the users to accelerate the calibration such that the CMAltimeter will work again? Also, users have reported that the CMAltimeter can temporarily stop delivering altitude updates, even though it should. So I guess my question resumes to this: Whats the best practice to handle an uncalibrated CMAltimeter? Thanks!
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Feb ’25
Offline Mapkit tiles
I'm currently developing an app with mapkit which I may submit to the Swift Student Challenge. So anyways, the app will be used completely offline. I was wondering if there was any way to include very low resolution map tiles with the app files. That way, the app never needs wifi. However, I'm not sure if this is possible, especially since the map would need to be under 20 mb. Thanks.
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Feb ’25