Build maps and location awareness capabilities into your apps.

All subtopics
Posts under Maps and Location topic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Clarification needed regarding requirements for geofencing
In my app, I am using geofencing to perform an action when the user enter or leaves a specified location. The geofencing (CLMonitor) is active permanently, and should work across multiple app sessions or after the device is restarted. It should also work after the app was minimized or terminated. This worked perfectly with iOS 17 and prior, but with iOS 18, things changed. As soon as iOS 18 dropped, users were informing me that the app does no longer perform the entry/exit action reliably (without me making any changes to the app). Most of the times, events are missed entirely. Sometimes, after the user opens or resumes the app, duplicate events are delivered and/or events with the current time instead of the correct time of entry/exit. I am making sure that the app has the "Always" location permission before geofencing is enabled The gefocence radius is between 20 and 500m, but even with the max. radius specified, the geofencing is unreliable For the same user and geofence, the entry/exit event is delivered occasionally, but not always I am currently not using CLLocationManager.allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates (even though it's documented as "Apps that receive location updates when running in the background must include the UIBackgroundModes key (with the location value) in their app’s Info.plist file") because it wasn't necessary on iOS 17 and in my tests, using it didn't yield any improvements In my search for what could have caused this change, I found this WWDC video about location authorization: . It appears that with iOS 18, it is now required to have an active CLServiceSession to ensure that location updates are delivered to my app. Even though the video is long (and I've watched it multiple times), some things are still unclear. For example, the docs state: If your app actively receives and processes location updates and terminates, it should restart those APIs upon launch in order to continue receiving updates. Also, in the video it is stated that: ... So your job, ..., is to make sure that your process launch logic knows what features it has been tasked with pursuing, and re-takes session objects... But on the other hand it's also said that: you can only start holding one (a CLServiceSession) when your app is in the foreground and also ... CLMonitor.events won’t yield results when it is not in use, unless a session which was started in the foreground, .... To summarize my questions, for the geofencing to work as described above: when exactly do I need to create a CLServiceSession if the app is launched into the backgorund? Immediately in the applicationDidFinishLaunching method, even though the app is still in the background (applicationState is background)? Or later on, when the app is opened again by the user, e.g. in applicationDidBecomeActive (and applicationState is active)? do I need to specify the background mode capability as noted in the Handling location updates in the background article? do I need to create a CLBackgroundActivitySession as noted in the Handling location updates in the background article? does it matter, which of the four initializer methods I am using to create the CLServiceSession (with CLServiceSessionAuthorizationRequirementAlways)? does it matter if I specify NSLocationRequireExplicitServiceSession in the Info.plist or not when I already do ensure that the app has the "Always" location permission when the feature is being enabled Does a CLServiceSession last indefinitely and should it only be invalidated once the user disables the feature?
3
7
953
Nov ’24
Background location stops with (kCLErrorDomain error 1.) but permission was granted
We are currently experiencing a very interesting issue when accessing the location in the background with CLLocationManager. The user has given our app the "whenInUse" permission for locations and in most cases the app provides location updates even when it's in the background. However, when we started to use other navigation apps in the foreground we saw that the func locationManager(_ manager: CLLocationManager, didFailWithError error: Error) method was called with (kCLErrorDomain error 1.). The user hasn't changed the location permission and we saw that locations were delivered once the user opened the app again. I don't see anything in the documentation explaining this issue, but I chatted with other developers that confirm that specific behavior. Am I missing something here?
2
3
862
Jun ’25
iOS location recording issues iOS 18
I’m facing an issue with iOS that I hope someone can help with. I developed an app a few years ago that records GPS tracks. Up until recently, everything worked fine—even when the app was running in the background, the recording continued without problems. However, since releasing an update compiled after the iOS 18 release, users have reported that background tracking no longer works. I’ve reviewed the iOS documentation but haven’t found any relevant changes or solutions. Before the newly compiled release the app was working well on iOS 18 devices as well. Some users have reported that switching to the location permission from "When Using the App" to "Always" solved the issue. This is not the case for all users. Has anyone else encountered this issue? Any recommendations or insights on how to resolve it would be greatly appreciated. Below you can see the code used for the location tracking. Before the issue happened the app was compiled with XCode 15.4. Now I am using XCode 16.2 locationManager.activityType = CLActivityType.fitness locationManager.desiredAccuracy = kCLLocationAccuracyBest locationManager.distanceFilter = 3 locationManager.allowsBackgroundLocationUpdates = true locationManager.pausesLocationUpdatesAutomatically = false if #available(iOS 11.0, *) { locationManager.showsBackgroundLocationIndicator = true } locationManager.startUpdatingLocation() if #available(iOS 17.0, *) { // Create a CLBackgroundActivitySession object backgroundActivitySession = CLBackgroundActivitySession() } Thanks in advance for your help!
3
2
596
Feb ’25
Geolocation tracking for IOS apps using .net Maui
I'm working on an in-house iOS app designed to help users accurately track their routes during trips. Currently, I've implemented a method to track users when the app is open in the background. However, I'm facing challenges, as the tracking stops when the device is locked for more than 10 minutes. I'm looking for a solution to continuously track a user's geolocation, even if the app is closed or not in use. Specifically, I want to ensure uninterrupted tracking, especially when the device is locked. Here are some key points: Current Method: I'm currently using the Core Location method and a combination of background tasks and a repeating timer to fetch the user's location and update a log for geolocation tracking when the app is open in the background. Issues Faced: The tracking stops when the device is locked for more than 10 minutes. This limitation impacts the accuracy of the route tracking during longer trips. Objective: My goal is to achieve continuous geolocation tracking, even when the app is closed or not actively used, to provide users with a seamless and accurate record of their routes. Platform: The app is developed for iOS using the .net maui platform, and I'm seeking solutions or suggestions that are compatible with the iOS .net maui environment. If anyone has experience or insights into achieving continuous geolocation tracking on iOS, especially when the app is not in use or the device is locked, I would greatly appreciate the assistance.
1
1
988
Feb ’25
Multi Polygons MapKit
Is MultiPolygon overlay support going to be integrated with SwiftUI? I have made a post on here previously without a reply :( Any suggestions on how to display multi-polygons within MapKit for SwiftUI(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/mapkit/mappolygon)? At the moment it is not supported and only supported by MapKit for UIKit(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/mapkit/mkmultipolygon).
4
1
1.2k
Nov ’24
App Clips Advanced Experiences not showing up in Apple Maps and Siri Suggestions
Hello everyone, I’m experiencing an issue with App Clips Advanced Experiences and Apple Maps/Siri Suggestions. We have already contacted Apple Support before, but they are investigating the cause of this issue and it has not been resolved til date. The App Clip is bundled with the main app and has been already available on the App Store for several months. The business running the app has several physical shops and wants to offer the App Clip to show up in Apple Maps and Siri Suggestions at each location. The App Clip is correctly exposed in the AASA file, and it's also validated correctly by the AASA APIs available at https://app-site-association.cdn-apple.com/a/v1. { "applinks": { "apps": [], "details": [ { "appID": "TEAMID.bundleid", "paths": [] } ] }, "appclips": { "apps": [ "TEAMID.bundleid.Clip" ] } } (with TEAMID and bundleid being the team and bundle identifiers of the app) The App Clip is displayed correctly when loading the website and when scanning a QR code or App Clip code, but doesn't appear in the Maps app or in Siri suggestions. We have set up the App Clip Advanced Experiences on the App Store Connect page of the app, and each URL has been linked to a physical shop. All URLs are in the "Received" state, so they should appear correctly on Maps. Unfortunately, I don't see any "Order" button in Apple Maps at any location card. We tried with both iOS 17 and 16. According to feedbacks from people in the shops, they don't see the app suggested in the Siri Suggestions. I have just submitted a Custom Action Link on Apple Business Connect for one of the shops, but without success: the App Clip doesn't appear. Any idea why is this happening?
8
1
919
Mar ’25
Deriving Apple Place ID from CLPlacemark or MKMapItem
I am trying to derive the Apple Place ID from a CLPlacemark (or via a MKMapItem derived from it) created via either CLGeocoder().reverseGeocodeLocation() or CLGeocoder().geocodeAddressString(). In many cases, the placemark returned from these functions contains detailed information (name, address, coordinates, etc), implying that the Apple Place ID is known, but the identifier is not present. The only way I have found to get a Place ID is via MKLocalSearch. Wondering if I am missing something here.
2
1
460
Dec ’24
Warnings - Failed to locate resource
I have a test application I'm working on (so it's a fresh Xcode project under Sonoma - with older map code borrowed from another project). It is a macOS application. And in Obj-C. When the map window is opened the logs contain the following - I've been trying to hunt down and resolve. Thank you in advance for any clues/pointers. Failed to locate resource "default.csv" Failed to locate resource "satellite@2x.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite@2x.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite@2x.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite@2x.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite.styl" Failed to locate resource "satellite.styl" Couldn't find satellite.styl in framework, file name satellite.styl Authorization status: Authorized The application does have MapKit.framework included.
4
1
2k
Dec ’24
iOS 18: “Settings” button on location permission alert does nothing, logs BUG IN CLIENT OF UIKIT warning
Hello everyone, I’m encountering a problem on the latest iOS 18 related to location permissions. When the user denies location access, my app triggers the standard system prompt asking them to enable location from Settings. On iOS 17 and below, tapping the “Settings” button in this system alert would successfully navigate the user to my app’s Settings page. However, on iOS 18, nothing happens. Instead, I see the following warning in the Xcode console: Warning : BUG IN CLIENT OF UIKIT: The caller of UIApplication.openURL(:) needs to migrate to the non-deprecated UIApplication.open(:options:completionHandler:). Force returning false (NO). Important details and context: In my own code, I have already replaced all calls to openURL(:) with open(:options:completionHandler:). I searched the entire codebase for usage of openURL: and didn’t find any. The alert that appears is the system location alert (iOS-generated), not a custom UIAlertController. Thus, I have no direct control over the underlying call. On iOS 17 (and below), tapping “Settings” in the same system dialog works perfectly and takes the user to the app’s permission page. The console message implies that somewhere—likely inside the system’s own flow—the deprecated API is being called and blocked on iOS 18. What I’ve tried: Verified I am not calling openURL: anywhere in my code. Confirmed that UIApplication.openSettingsURLString works when I programmatically open it in a custom alert. Tested multiple times on iOS 17 and iOS 18 to confirm the behavior difference. Steps to reproduce: Install the app on a device running iOS 18 Beta. Deny location permission when prompted. Trigger a piece of code that relies on location (e.g., loading a map screen) so that the OS automatically shows its standard “Location is disabled” alert, which includes a “Settings” button. Tap “Settings.” On iOS 17, this navigates to the app’s Settings. On iOS 18 Beta, it does nothing, and the console logs the BUG IN CLIENT OF UIKIT warning. Questions: Is this a known iOS 18 bug where the system’s own alert is still using the deprecated openURL: call? If so, are there any workarounds besides presenting a custom alert that manually calls open(_:options:completionHandler:)? Thank you in advance. Any guidance or confirmation would be appreciated!
1
1
956
Jan ’25
SwiftUI MapKit use of UserLocation struct
I have a map where I am using UserAnnotation() to show the user's location. Location permissions are handled elsewhere in the app. If the user has previously granted location permission, that is enough for the UserAnnotation() blue pin to appear. Otherwise, it just doesn't draw. So the Map already knows the user's permission and location without my code again requesting location etc. I was looking for a way to leverage the map's knowledge of the user's location and came across this struct as described in the Documentation for SwiftUI Mapkit public struct UserLocation { public var heading: CLHeading? public var location: CLLocation? } I thought this struct might expose the user's location, but how it is expected to be used or when it should populated is unknown from the point of the documentation. Would someone please share the purpose and use of this struct?
1
1
432
Jan ’25
Background location indicator stuck in dynamic island when using CLServiceSession and CLBackgroundActivitySession
We have a setup that's really close to the one used in the example project - Monitoring location changes with Core Location. In short, we have a flag that indicates whether or not we should start background location monitoring. If the flag is on, after the app starts, we Create a CLServiceSession with authorization: .always Create a CLBackgroundActivitySession The user can perform an action (press a button) to toggle the flag off, in which case we invalidate and dispose of the CLServiceSession and CLBackgroundActivitySession instances and cancel any liveUpdates observation. So far, so good, everything works as expected. However, we're experiencing a weird behavior on iPhones with Dynamic Island after there's an app update. When the user is on the same app version, the behavior is correct. have the flag on, background location monitoring works fine, when the app is in the the background, there's correctly a location indicator in Dynamic Island the user can go back to the app and turn the flag off (disposing of instances, cancelling location observation), and when the app is in the background, there is no location indicator in Dynamic Island The problem arises when the user updates the app open version 1.0 of the app have the flag on, background location monitoring works fine, when the app is in the the background, there's correctly a location indicator in Dynamic Island download an app update - version 2.0 the app restarts, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions gets called again and we start the background services dynamic island indicator is correctly showing a location indicator the user goes into the app, toggles the flag off - turning location observation off, we dispose of everything now, when the app is moved to the background, there's still a location indicator in the Dynamic Island, even though we're no longer observing location The indicator is hard to get rid of, there are only 2 ways we've found restart the device, or uninstall the app The question is - is this a bug in the system? Or is there anything we should be doing actively after an app update? Thank you!
1
1
103
May ’25
Clustering on MapKit for SwiftUI iOS17+
Hi What would be the best way to achieve clustering on MapKit within SwiftUI? We're building a decentralized commerce auction platform that is currently live in Switzerland with 3'500 live auctions that can be discovered on a map. We're now running into the issue that the map gets cluttered, when zooming out and haven't been able to find a way to cluster We moved back to UIKit, where clustering works, but UIKit has other drawdowns. So ideally there is a way to handle it within SwiftUI without having to wrap UIKit or move back entirely to UIKit. Thanks for any help or suggestions! Developer Documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/mapkit/mapkit-for-swiftui Julius Ilg AuctionShack
2
1
89
Jun ’25
Incorrect position rendering of WGS84 coordinate in MKMapView: Discrepancy between Apple Maps (Hong Kong) and Amap (Mainland China)
I am encountering a coordinate rendering issue using MKMapView in my iOS app. I have a GPS coordinate in WGS84 format, which corresponds to a location in Hong Kong. When my device is physically located in Hong Kong, MKMapView displays the map with the "Apple Maps" label, and the WGS84 coordinate is rendered at the correct position. However, when the device is in Mainland China, MKMapView switches to display "Amap" (Gaode Maps) branding, and the same WGS84 coordinate is rendered at an incorrect position. I understand that Amap in Mainland China uses the GCJ-02 coordinate system, while Apple Maps typically uses WGS84. This discrepancy suggests a potential coordinate system mismatch, but I cannot definitively confirm which map type (and corresponding coordinate system) MKMapView is actually using in different regions. My key questions are: How can I programmatically or visually confirm the underlying map type (Apple Maps vs. Amap) and its coordinate system within MKMapView? Is there a way to simulate the Apple Maps environment for testing when physically located in Mainland China?
4
0
134
2w
CLLocation.sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware not detecting third-party location spoofing tools
Summary CLLocationSourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware (iOS 15+) fails to detect location spoofing when using third-party tools like LocaChange, despite Apple's documentation stating it should detect simulated locations. Environment iOS 18.0 (tested and confirmed) Physical device with Developer Mode enabled Third-party location spoofing tools (e.g., LocaChange etc.) Expected Behavior According to Apple's documentation, isSimulatedBySoftware should return true when: "if the system generated the location using on-device software simulation. " Actual Behavior Tested on iOS 18.0: When using LocaChange sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware returns false This occurs even though the location is clearly being simulated. Steps to Reproduce Enable Developer Mode on iOS 18 device Connect device to Mac via USB Use LocaChange to spoof location to a different city/country In your app, request location updates and check CLLocation.sourceInformation?.isSimulatedBySoftware Observe that it returns false or sourceInformation is nil Compare with direct Xcode location simulation (Debug → Simulate Location) which correctly returns true
2
0
97
1w
Associating App Clips to Apple Map Location
Question: Does anyone have experience or documentation on how to get an App Clip to show on Apple Maps for a location? What I've tried: I have tried to associate my App Clip with an Apple Maps location. We are working with a physical restaurant that has an Apple Maps location, our full app is listed there but not the App Clip. I've gone through the steps of setting up the Advanced App Clip Experience and giving it the location we want it associated with, and have gone through Apple Business Connect and done all the setup there to get the full app to show with the location, but the app clip still does not show. I've contacted Apple Support and they gave me the criteria of "The App Clip is hosted within the app" and "The app is associated to the same physical location". When asking for clarification with the first criteria they said they could help and closed the chat.
2
0
825
May ’25
UIKit mapView color annotations
I have tried to make colored annotations in mapView (shown in the commented sections) but they always appear in black. Any help would be appreciated. func mapView(_ mapView: MKMapView, viewFor annotation: MKAnnotation) -> MKAnnotationView? { let annotationView = MKAnnotationView(annotation: annotation, reuseIdentifier: "TempAnnotationView") annotationView.canShowCallout = true annotationView.rightCalloutAccessoryView = UIButton(type: .detailDisclosure) let configuration = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration(pointSize: 10, weight: .thin, scale: .default) if annotation.title == "Start" { // let config = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration.preferringMulticolor() // let image = UIImage(systemName: "flag.fill", withConfiguration: config) // // palette // let config2 = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration(paletteColors: [.systemRed, .systemGreen, .systemBlue]) // let image2 = UIImage(systemName: "person.3.sequence.fill", withConfiguration: config2) // // hierarchical symbols // let config3 = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration(hierarchicalColor: .systemIndigo) // let image3 = UIImage(systemName: "square.stack.3d.down.right.fill", withConfiguration: config3) // // color // let image4 = UIImage(systemName: "cone.fill")?.withTintColor(.systemRed, renderingMode: .alwaysTemplate) // annotationView.image = image4 annotationView.image = UIImage(systemName: "poweron", withConfiguration: configuration) } return annotationView }
3
0
707
Apr ’25
Location Permission Popup Not Appearing in SwiftUI App
Hello everyone, I'm working on a SwiftUI app that requires location services, and I've implemented a LocationManager class to handle location updates and permissions. However, I'm facing an issue where the location permission popup does not appear when the app is launched. Here is my current implementation: LocationManager.swift: import CoreLocation import SwiftUI class LocationManager: NSObject, ObservableObject, CLLocationManagerDelegate { private let locationManager = CLLocationManager() @Published var userLocation: CLLocation? @Published var isAuthorized = false @Published var authorizationStatus: CLAuthorizationStatus = .notDetermined override init() { super.init() locationManager.delegate = self checkAuthorizationStatus() } func startLocationUpdates() { locationManager.startUpdatingLocation() } func stopLocationUpdates() { locationManager.stopUpdatingLocation() } func requestLocationAuthorization() { print("Requesting location authorization") DispatchQueue.main.async { self.locationManager.requestWhenInUseAuthorization() } } private func checkAuthorizationStatus() { print("Checking authorization status") authorizationStatus = locationManager.authorizationStatus print("Initial authorization status: \(authorizationStatus.rawValue)") handleAuthorizationStatus(authorizationStatus) } func locationManagerDidChangeAuthorization(_ manager: CLLocationManager) { print("Authorization status changed") authorizationStatus = manager.authorizationStatus print("New authorization status: \(authorizationStatus.rawValue)") handleAuthorizationStatus(authorizationStatus) } private func handleAuthorizationStatus(_ status: CLAuthorizationStatus) { switch status { case .authorizedAlways, .authorizedWhenInUse: DispatchQueue.main.async { self.isAuthorized = true self.startLocationUpdates() } case .notDetermined: requestLocationAuthorization() case .denied, .restricted: DispatchQueue.main.async { self.isAuthorized = false self.stopLocationUpdates() print("Location access denied or restricted") } @unknown default: DispatchQueue.main.async { self.isAuthorized = false self.stopLocationUpdates() } } } func locationManager(_ manager: CLLocationManager, didUpdateLocations locations: [CLLocation]) { DispatchQueue.main.async { self.userLocation = locations.last } } func locationManager(_ manager: CLLocationManager, didFailWithError error: Error) { print("Location manager error: \(error.localizedDescription)") } } MapzinApp.swift: @main struct MapzinApp: App { @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var delegate @StateObject private var locationManager = LocationManager() var body: some Scene { WindowGroup { Group { if locationManager.authorizationStatus == .notDetermined { Text("Determining location authorization status...") } else if locationManager.isAuthorized { CoordinatorView() .environmentObject(locationManager) } else { Text("Location access is required to use this app. Please enable it in Settings.") } } } } } Log input: Checking authorization status Initial authorization status: 0 Requesting location authorization Authorization status changed New authorization status: 0 Requesting location authorization Despite calling requestWhenInUseAuthorization() when the authorization status is .notDetermined, the permission popup never appears. Here are the specific steps I have taken: Checked the Info.plist to ensure the necessary keys for location usage are present: NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription Verified that the app's target settings include location services capabilities. Tested on a real device to ensure it's not a simulator issue. I'm not sure what I might be missing. Any advice or suggestions to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
2
0
2.2k
Feb ’25
Not getting User's location in Background Mode
We developed a app in which the I need the app to update the User's location even in background( even after terminating from the recent UI ), Currently I am receiving the location updates when the user has kept the app in open and if minimised, But I want that it should update the location even when it is removed from recent app (minimised UI)(after terminating the app) Is it possible to do so.???
3
0
848
Nov ’24