iOS Programming 101: Intro to MapKit API and Add an Annotation on Map

October 14, 2012 By 27 Comments

A month ago, we covered how to use Core Location framework to retrieve the user’s location. We also showed you how to convert the GPS coordinate into an address. However, the best way to show a location is to pin it on map. Thanks to the MapKit API. It lets programmers easily work with the built-in Maps and pin a location.

The Map Kit framework provides an interface for embedding maps directly into your own windows and views. This framework also provides support for annotating the map, adding overlays, and performing reverse-geocoding lookups to determine placemark information for a given map coordinate.
- iOS Developer Reference

MapKit is a neat API, comes with the iOS SDK, that allows you to display maps, navigate through maps, add annotations for specific locations, add overlays on existing maps, etc. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you though the basics of the API and show you how to place a pin on the map. As usual, rather than going through the theory, we’ll work on a simple app. Through the practice, we hope you’ll get a better idea about MapKit.

Let’s get started.
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iOS Programming 101: How To Get the User Location in iPhone App

September 9, 2012 By 25 Comments

This is the third article of the iOS Programming 101 series. In the previous two articles, we showed you how to hide the tab bar and implement email feature in your app. In this article, we’ll show you how to add GPS capability in your iPhone app and retrieve the user’s current location. We’ll even cover tip to translate the GPS coordinate into street address. It’s gonna to be fun and pretty easy to implement.

Location services provide a way to improve your app by enhancing the user experience. If you’re developing a travel app, you can base on the users’ current location to search for nearby restaurants or hotels. You can also find the location feature in most of the Photo apps that saves where the pictures are taken. The Core Location framework provides the necessary Objective-C interfaces for obtaining information about the user’s location. With the GPS coordinate obtained, you can make use of the API to decode the actual street or utilize the Map framework to further display the location on Map.

In this tutorial, we’ll build a simple app to show you how to use the Core Location framework. Here are the things we’ll do:

  • Build a simple interface to display the GPS coordinate and address
  • Learn how to use the Core Location APIs to retrieve the current location
  • Utilize the built-in APIs to translate the GPS coordinates into street address

Okay, let’s get started.
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