Get Started with MapLibre GL Native for iOS using SwiftUI

This tutorial describes how to create a simple iOS application using Swift and SwiftUI.

You will learn the following:

• Add MapLibre to the iOS project.
• Create SwiftUI View for the map view control.
• Create MapTiler key.
• Initialize map and load the style.

This tutorial was written for macOS

View complete source code on GitHub

Create new project

Open Xcode and create new project. Choose iOS -> App template. In the “Choose options for your new project” select Interface to “SwiftUI”, lifecycle to “SwiftUI App”, language to “Swift”

Add MapLibre Native SDK for iOS

Add MapLibre SDK to your project using Swift Package Manager.

1. To add a package dependency to your Xcode project, select File > Swift Packages > Add Package Dependency and enter its repository URL. You can also navigate to your target’s General pane, and in the “Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content” section, click the + button, select Add Other, and choose Add Package Dependency.
2. Either add MapTiler GitHub distribution URL https://github.com/maplibre/maplibre-gl-native-distribution or search for maplibre-gl-native package.
   
3. Choose “next”. Xcode should clone the distribution repository and download the binaries. Choose both mapBox and MapBox Mobile Events libraries.
   

MapTiler Key

1. Create MapTiler Cloud account.
2. Obtain the API key.
3. Set the MapTilerKey property in SimpleMap_SwiftUI/info.plist to the value obtained in the previous step.
4. Add the following method to MapView.swift. The method will MapTilerKey from property list.

    func getMapTilerkey() -> String {
        let mapTilerKey = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "MapTilerKey") as? String
        validateKey(mapTilerKey)
        return mapTilerKey!
    }

Create map view

1. In your project, add new SwiftUI View to the SimpleMap_SwiftUI folder and name it MapView.swift

2. In order to use native UIKit views in SwiftUI view, you must use [UIViewRepresentable](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/uiviewrepresentable) wrapper. The instance of custom type which adopts UIViewRepresentable protocol is responsible for creation and management a UIView object in your SwiftUI interface.

        struct MapView: UIViewRepresentable {
            ...
        }
   

3. The UIViewRepresentable requires to implement makeUIViewController(context:) method that creates the instance of with the desired UIKit view. Add the following code to create map view instance

        func makeUIView(context: Context) -> MGLMapView {
        // read the key from property list
        let mapTilerKey = getMapTilerkey()
        validateKey(mapTilerKey)
           
        // Build the style url
        let styleURL = URL(string: "https://api.maptiler.com/maps/streets-v2/style.json?key=\(mapTilerKey)")
           
        // create the mapview
        let mapView = MGLMapView(frame: .zero, styleURL: styleURL)
        mapView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
        mapView.logoView.isHidden = true
        mapView.setCenter(
            CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 47.127757, longitude: 8.579139),
            zoomLevel: 10,
            animated: false)
           
        // use the coordinator only if you need
        // to respond to the map events
        mapView.delegate = context.coordinator
           
        return mapView
    }
   

4. The UIViewRepresentable view also requires to implement updateUIView(_:context:) which is used to configure the newly created instance. We dont need to configure anything so we will keep it empty.

        func updateUIView(_ uiView: MGLMapView, context: Context) {}
   

Respond to map events

If order to to respond to map events, for example perform an action after MapView initialization finished. In SwiftUI, a Coordinator can be used with delegates, data sources, and user events. The UIViewRepresentable protocol defines makeCoordinator() method which creates coordinator instance. Add the following code to declare coordinator class:

     class Coordinator: NSObject, MGLMapViewDelegate {
        var control: MapView
        
        init(_ control: MapView) {
            self.control = control
        }

        func mapViewDidFinishLoadingMap(_ mapView: MGLMapView) {
            // write your custom code which will be executed
            // after map has been loaded
        }
    }

And then add the following method to the SwiftUI view:

    func makeCoordinator() -> MapView.Coordinator {
        Coordinator(self)
    }

And finally set the reference coordinator on map view

    mapView.delegate = context.coordinator