Google Maps URL Scheme for iOS

On devices running iOS 9 and later, you can use Universal Links to launch Google Maps when you have a Google Maps URL.

You can use the Google Maps URL scheme to launch the Google Maps app for iOS and perform searches, get direction requests, and display map views. When you launch Google Maps, your bundle identifier is automatically sent as part of the request.

You don't need a Google API key to use the Google Maps URL scheme.

Note: Maps URLs let you build a universal, cross-platform URL to launch Google Maps and perform searches, get directions, display map views, and display panoramic images. It is recommended that you use the cross-platform Maps URLs to launch Google Maps, since these universal URLs allow for broader handling of the maps requests no matter which platform the user is on. You should only use the iOS-specific Maps URL Scheme for features that may only be functional on a mobile platform (for example, turn-by-turn navigation).

Universal Links and Google Maps

Google Maps for iOS supports Universal Links on devices running iOS 9 or later.

If your URL matches the following regular expression, and the device is running iOS 9 or later, you may want to consider using the openURL: method directly.

(http(s?)://)?
((maps\.google\.{TLD}/)|
 ((www\.)?google\.{TLD}/maps/)|
 (goo.gl/maps/))
.*

For example,

Swift

UIApplication.shared.openURL(URL(string:"https://www.google.com/maps/@42.585444,13.007813,6z")!)

Objective-C

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:
   [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://www.google.com/maps/@42.585444,13.007813,6z"]];

Overview

A URL scheme allows you to launch a native iOS application from another iOS app or a web application. You can set options in the URL that will be passed to the launched application. The Google Maps app for iOS supports the following URL schemes:

• comgooglemaps:// and comgooglemaps-x-callback:// - These schemes allow you to launch the Google Maps app for iOS and perform one of several actions:

  • Display a map at a specified location and zoom level.
  • Search for locations or places, and display them on a map.
  • Request directions from one location to another. Directions can be returned for four modes of transportation: driving, walking, bicycling and public transit.
  • Add navigation to your app.
  • Through iOS 8, issue a callback when the app has completed, using comgooglemaps-x-callback://. Callbacks are often used to return a user to the app that originally opened Google Maps for iOS. Note that on iOS 9, the system automatically provides a "Back to" link in left corner of the status bar.

• comgooglemapsurl:// - This scheme allows you to launch the Google Maps app for iOS using a URL derived from the desktop Google Maps website. This means that you can give your users a native mobile experience rather than simply loading the Google Maps website.

  • The original URL can be for maps.google.com, or for google.com/maps, or using any valid top-level country domain instead of com. You can also pass on goo.gl/maps redirection URLs.
  • You can issue a callback using the x-source and x-success parameters with the comgooglemapsurl:// URL scheme.

Launching the Google Maps app for iOS and performing a specific function

Note: Beginning with iOS 9, your app must declare the URL schemes that it will open. See Getting Started for more information.

To launch the Google Maps app for iOS and optionally perform one of the supported functions, use a URL scheme of the following form:

comgooglemaps://?parameters

or:

comgooglemaps-x-callback://?parameters

Parameters are described in detail later in this document.

Checking the availability of the Google Maps app on the device

Before you present one of these URLs to a user in your app you should first verify that the application is installed. Your app can check that the URL scheme is available with the following code:

Swift

UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(URL(string:"comgooglemaps://")!)

Objective-C

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:
    [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemaps://"]];

For example, to display a map of Central Park in New York, you can use the following code:

Swift

if (UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(URL(string:"comgooglemaps://")!)) {
  UIApplication.shared.openURL(URL(string:
    "comgooglemaps://?center=40.765819,-73.975866&zoom=14&views=traffic")!)
} else {
  print("Can't use comgooglemaps://");
}

Objective-C

if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:
     [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemaps://"]]) {
  [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:
   [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemaps://?center=40.765819,-73.975866&zoom=14&views=traffic"]];
} else {
  NSLog(@"Can't use comgooglemaps://");
}

Displaying a map

Use the URL scheme to display the map at a specified zoom level and location. You can also overlay other views on top of your map, or display Street View imagery.

Parameters

All of the following parameters are optional. If no parameters are set, the URL scheme will launch the Google Maps app for iOS.

• center: This is the map viewport center point. Formatted as a comma separated string of latitude,longitude.
• mapmode: Sets the kind of map shown. Can be set to: standard or streetview. If not specified, the current application settings will be used.
• views: Turns specific views on/off. Can be set to: satellite, traffic, or transit. Multiple values can be set using a comma-separator. If the parameter is specified with no value, then it will clear all views.
• zoom: Specifies the zoom level of the map.

An example URL is below, which displays the map centered on New York at zoom 14 with the traffic view on:

comgooglemaps://?center=40.765819,-73.975866&zoom=14&views=traffic

Some additional examples are below:

comgooglemaps://?center=37.788463,-122.392545&zoom=12

comgooglemaps://?center=46.414382,10.013988&mapmode=streetview

Search

Use this scheme to display search queries in a specified viewport location.

Parameters

In addition to the parameters used to display a map, Search supports the q parameter.

• q: The query string for your search.

An example URL is below to search for “Pizza” around the specified location:

comgooglemaps://?q=Pizza&center=37.759748,-122.427135

Some additional examples are below:

comgooglemaps://?q=Steamers+Lane+Santa+Cruz,+CA&center=37.782652,-122.410126&views=satellite,traffic&zoom=15

comgooglemaps://?q=Google+Japan,+Minato,+Tokyo,+Japan&center=35.660888,139.73073&zoom=15&views=transit

Displaying directions

Use this scheme to request and display directions between two locations. You can also specify the transportation mode.

Parameters

• saddr: Sets the starting point for directions searches. This can be a latitude,longitude or a query formatted address. If it is a query string that returns more than one result, the first result will be selected. If the value is left blank, then the user’s current location will be used.
• daddr: Sets the end point for directions searches. Has the same format and behavior as saddr.
• directionsmode: Method of transportation. Can be set to: driving, transit, bicycling or walking.

An example URL is below to display transit directions between Google NYC and JFK Airport:

comgooglemaps://?saddr=Google+Inc,+8th+Avenue,+New+York,+NY&daddr=John+F.+Kennedy+International+Airport,+Van+Wyck+Expressway,+Jamaica,+New+York&directionsmode=transit

Some additional examples are below:

comgooglemaps://?saddr=Google,+1600+Amphitheatre+Parkway,+Mountain+View,+CA+94043&daddr=Google+Inc,+345+Spear+Street,+San+Francisco,+CA&center=37.422185,-122.083898&zoom=10

comgooglemaps://?saddr=2025+Garcia+Ave,+Mountain+View,+CA,+USA&daddr=Google,+1600+Amphitheatre+Parkway,+Mountain+View,+CA,+United+States&center=37.423725,-122.0877&directionsmode=walking&zoom=17

Specifying a callback URL

If you'd like to specify a callback URL, you must use the comgooglemaps-x-callback:// URL scheme. This scheme adheres to the x-callback-url specification. When you call the Google Maps app for iOS with this scheme, the app will display a button at the top of the screen. Tapping this button will issue a callback to a URL that you've specified.

Requests to the comgooglemaps-x-callback:// must be of the form:

comgooglemaps-x-callback://?parameters

Parameters

The x-callback URL scheme accepts the same parameters as the comgooglemaps:// URL scheme, with the following additional parameters. Both parameters are required.

• x-source — The name of the application sending the x-callback request. Short names are preferred.
• x-success — The URL to call when complete. Often this will be a URL scheme for your own app, allowing users to return to the original application.

Note that your app will have to register its own URL scheme so that it can respond to the callback URL.

1. Ensure that your application has registered a URL scheme that can respond to the callback request.
2. Pass the label for the callback button in the x-source parameter.
3. Pass the callback URL in the x-success parameter.

The following example will launch the Google Maps app for iOS and display a map centered on New York. The app will also display a button labelled "SourceApp". When the "SourceApp" button is clicked, the Google Maps app for iOS will issue a callback to a fictitious URL scheme, sourceapp://?resume=true.

comgooglemaps-x-callback://?center=40.765819,-73.975866&zoom=14
   &x-success=sourceapp://?resume=true
   &x-source=SourceApp

As with the comgooglemaps:// URL scheme, you should first verify that the Google Maps app for iOS is available on the device, and supports the x-callback URL scheme. Your app can check that the URL scheme is available with the following code:

Swift

UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(URL(string:"comgooglemaps-x-callback://")!)

Objective-C

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:
   [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemaps-x-callback://"]];

An example of a URL that lets users return to an app after searching for dessert is shown below.

comgooglemaps-x-callback://?q=dessert&center=37.759748,-122.427135
   &x-success=sourceapp://?resume=true
   &x-source=Nom+Nom

Adding navigation to your app

Launching Google Maps app for iOS with a directions request is an easy way to give your users access to turn-by-turn navigation from your app. You can use either the comgooglemaps:// or comgooglemaps-x-callback:// URL schemes.

Note: Buttons added via the x-source parameter will not be displayed in the turn-by-turn navigation UI.

The below code snippet shows how to use the comgooglemaps-x-callback:// scheme to request directions, and then return to your app when your user is ready. The code will do the following:

1. Verify that the comgooglemaps-x-callback:// URL scheme is available.
2. Launch the Google Maps app for iOS, and request directions to JFK Airport in New York city. Leave the start address blank to request directions from the user's current location.
3. Add a button labelled "AirApp" to the Google Maps app for iOS. The button label is defined by the x-source parameter.
4. Call the fictitious URL scheme, sourceapp://, when the users clicks the back button.

The code is shown below.

Swift

let testURL = URL(string: "comgooglemaps-x-callback://")!
if UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(testURL) {
  let directionsRequest = "comgooglemaps-x-callback://" +
    "?daddr=John+F.+Kennedy+International+Airport,+Van+Wyck+Expressway,+Jamaica,+New+York" +
    "&x-success=sourceapp://?resume=true&x-source=AirApp"

  let directionsURL = URL(string: directionsRequest)!
  UIApplication.shared.openURL(directionsURL)
} else {
  NSLog("Can't use comgooglemaps-x-callback:// on this device.")
}

Objective-C

NSURL *testURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemaps-x-callback://"];
if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:testURL]) {
  NSString *directionsRequest = @"comgooglemaps-x-callback://" +
      @"?daddr=John+F.+Kennedy+International+Airport,+Van+Wyck+Expressway,+Jamaica,+New+York" +
      @"&x-success=sourceapp://?resume=true&x-source=AirApp";
  NSURL *directionsURL = [NSURL URLWithString:directionsRequest];
  [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:directionsURL];
} else {
  NSLog(@"Can't use comgooglemaps-x-callback:// on this device.");
}

Launching the Google Maps app for iOS from a Google Maps desktop URL

If your app has access to a pre-existing Google Maps URL, such as on a web page or in a database, you can use the scheme below to open the URL in the Google Maps app for iOS, thus offering your users the best native experience.

1. Replace the http:// or https:// scheme with comgooglemapsurl://.
2. If you want to use a callback, include the x-source and x-success parameters. This scheme adheres to the x-callback-url specification.

Supported Google Maps URL formats

The comgooglemapsurl:// scheme supports URLs that match the following regular expression below, where {TLD} refers to any valid top-level country domain. Line breaks are added for clarity:

(http(s?)://)?
((maps\.google\.{TLD}/)|
 ((www\.)?google\.{TLD}/maps/)|
 (goo.gl/maps/))
.*

Checking the availability of the Google Maps app

First verify that the Google Maps app for iOS is available on the device, and supports the URL scheme:

Swift

UIApplication.shared.canOpenURL(URL(string:"comgooglemaps-x-callback://")!)

Objective-C

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:
   [NSURL URLWithString:@"comgooglemapsurl://"]];

Examples

Example of a generic Google Maps URL:

Original Google Maps URL:

https://www.google.com/maps/preview/@42.585444,13.007813,6z

Using the URL scheme:

comgooglemapsurl://www.google.com/maps/preview/@42.585444,13.007813,6z

Example of a generic Google Maps URL:

Original Google Maps URL:

https://maps.google.com/?q=@37.3161,-122.1836

Using the URL scheme:

comgooglemapsurl://maps.google.com/?q=@37.3161,-122.1836

Example requesting directions to Tokyo Tower with x-callback:

Original Google Maps URL:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&daddr=Tokyo+Tower,+Tokyo,+Japan&sll=35.6586,139.7454&sspn=0.2,0.1&nav=1

The following example will launch the Google Maps app for iOS and display a map with directions to Tokyo Tower, as specified in the original Google Maps URL (above). The app will also display a button labelled "SourceApp". When the "SourceApp" button is clicked, the Google Maps app for iOS will issue a callback to a fictitious URL scheme, sourceapp://?resume=true.

comgooglemapsurl://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&daddr=Tokyo+Tower,+Tokyo,+Japan&sll=35.6586,139.7454&sspn=0.2,0.1&nav=1
    &x-source=SourceApp
    &x-success=sourceapp://?resume=true