The next evolution of our Maps SDK for iOS and Android
New features and core performance upgrades
By: Lily Kaiser
The latest versions of our Maps SDKs for iOS and Android are live 🙌 v5.2.0 for Android and v3.7.0 for iOS. These SDK versions contain new features, like generating thumbnail images of maps on the client, and a host of performance improvements so maps load faster.
Generate “snapshots”
The ability to create a “snapshot” of a map on the client side has been in high demand. Our new Snapshot API ships with this release, so now you can generate a static image of a map for use as a thumbnail or preview inside your application (see documentation for iOS and Android). Since snapshot generation can happen on any thread, you don’t have to worry about compromising the user experience. Take a snapshot of any Mapbox map and incorporate it into another page in your app, like a home screen or a list page.
Load maps and map data faster
Our core GL team made two key performance improvements in the latest versions. We decreased synchronous initialization time from ~200ms to ~1ms by initializing OfflineDatabase asynchronously, and we replaced our vector tile parsing code with a new library; this slashed parse times by 25%. We’ve also made core improvements so you can add raster overlays or other geo-referenced image sources to your maps for both iOS and Android.
Platform-specific updates
On Android, we removed our dependency on the LOST SDK as a location provider, making our SDK lighter and letting you choose how you determine the location of the device. We also implemented asynchronous rendering so the map moves more smoothly by rendering on a dedicated GL thread, reducing stutter.
For iOS, we’ve introduced full compatibility with the VoiceOver screen reader, making maps more accessible to users with visual impairments.
For a full list of updates, see our changelogs for iOS and Android. Install the latest Maps SDK for iOS and Android and start building. Let us know what you create on Twitter, #BuiltWithMapbox.
