Ordnance Survey is pleased to be giving developers of mobile applications a helping hand with the launch of a free mapping software development kit (SDK).
Adding detailed Ordnance Survey maps to mobile applications is now even easier to do thanks to the new OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS.
Building on the success of the recently released OS MapFinder app for iOS devices, and the popular OS OpenSpace API, Ordnance Survey is delighted to launch the OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS. Through the new SDK, developers can quickly and easily add detailed Ordnance Survey maps to their applications on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The powerful and fast SDK provides a number of significant benefits for both the developer and the end users, including quick rendering and offline mapping, meaning that apps can still function even without a mobile signal.
The free SDK automatically enables access to the range of high quality datasets available within both the OS OpenSpace and OS OpenSpace Pro API. Developers using the SDK are able to create exciting apps with the highest quality mapping data for Great Britain. Accessible products include overview mapping for Great Britain, street-level mapping featuring detailed building property boundaries and accurate road networks, vector based mid-scale mapping and the popular and trusted, outdoor mapping product, OS Landranger Maps (1: 50 000 scale), featuring national parks, tracks, paths and fields.
By accessing OS OpenSpace through the new SDK, developers can easily select which products are displayed within their applications. The SDK also enables developers to access a range of features, which can be used to further enhance the mapping within the applications. Some of the key features include:
- Zoom and pan controls – native touch gesture recognisers provide tap and pinch zoom controls for the mapping
- Annotations – developers can add features, markers and customised annotations to make truly interactive maps
- Search – developers can create searchable maps by accessing gazetteer and addressing datasets through the SDK
- Overlays – developers can easily create and style polylines and polygons
- User location – the new SDK provides a core location API to easily display the apps user location on the map
John Abbott, Head of Access and Services at Ordnance Survey, comments: “The free OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS will become an important tool in the developer’s tool kit and I am looking forward to seeing many new interactive apps featuring Ordnance Survey mapping. Mobile is on its way to becoming the most important platform and we continue to see more and more individuals and businesses accessing mapping data from mobile devices. The new SDK allows even greater access to mapping data and I am confident that we will see a new wave of mobile applications being developed for a variety of market sectors, including estate agents, utility companies, emergency services and the outdoors.”
The OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS will be released as open source software. The flexible SDK enables developers to access Ordnance Survey’s web services to create great apps using detailed mapping data. Developers can reuse the SDK code to create apps with other datasets, as well as have compatibility with other SDKs. With the new SDK it is very straightforward to migrate from MapKit to the Ordnance Survey API with only a few changes to your application required.
Peter ter Haar, Ordnance Survey’s Director of Products and Innovation, adds: “The new SDK is another example of how Ordnance Survey is supporting developers and the wider government open data agenda. The OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS is a great addition to our open data and open source portfolio and will enable developers to easily innovate with Ordnance Survey’s detailed and trusted datasets, resulting in many more apps being underpinned by geographic information.”
To find out more information on the new OS OpenSpace SDK for iOS visit: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/web-services/os-openspace/pro/ios-sdk.html