Draw polylines on a map

  • This sample demonstrates animating the style of a polyline on a map using the Google Maps SDK for iOS.

  • The animation is achieved by dynamically updating the GMSStyleSpansOffset of the polylines based on position and style.

  • The sample code provides implementations in both Swift and Objective-C.

  • You can clone the sample app repository, install dependencies via CocoaPods, build the project, and run it on an iOS simulator.

  • Ensure to obtain and configure your API key before building and running the sample app.
Displays a map of the south Pacific Ocean with an animation of red and green polylines changing their position and size.

Get started

Before you can try the sample code, you must configure your development environment. For more information, see Maps SDK for iOS code samples.

View the code

Swift

import GoogleMaps
import UIKit

final class PolylinesViewController: UIViewController {
  private lazy var styles: [GMSStrokeStyle] = {
    let greenStyle = GMSStrokeStyle.gradient(from: .green, to: UIColor.green.withAlphaComponent(0))
    let redStyle = GMSStrokeStyle.gradient(from: UIColor.red.withAlphaComponent(0), to: .red)
    return [greenStyle, redStyle, GMSStrokeStyle.solidColor(UIColor(white: 0, alpha: 0))]
  }()
  private var pathLength: Double = 0
  private var pos: Double = 0
  private var polylines: [GMSPolyline] = []

  private lazy var mapView: GMSMapView = {
    let camera = GMSCameraPosition(latitude: -30, longitude: -175, zoom: 3)
    return GMSMapView(frame: .zero, camera: camera)
  }()

  override func loadView() {
    view = mapView
    mapView.accessibilityElementsHidden = true
  }

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    var path = GMSMutablePath()
    path.addLatitude(-33.866901, longitude: 151.195988)
    path.addLatitude(-18, longitude: 179)
    path.addLatitude(21.291982, longitude: -157.821856)
    path.addLatitude(37.423802, longitude: -122.091859)
    path.addLatitude(-12, longitude: -77)
    path.addLatitude(-33.866901, longitude: 151.195988)
    path = path.pathOffset(byLatitude: -30, longitude: 0)
    pathLength = path.length(of: .geodesic) / 21
    for i in 0..<30 {
      let polyline = GMSPolyline(path: path.pathOffset(byLatitude: Double(i) * 1.5, longitude: 0))
      polyline.strokeWidth = 8
      polyline.geodesic = true
      polyline.map = mapView
      polylines.append(polyline)
    }
    animatePath()
  }

  // Updates the path style every 0.1 seconds.
  private func animatePath() {
    polylines.forEach {
      if let path = $0.path {
        $0.spans = GMSStyleSpansOffset(path, styles, [NSNumber(value: pathLength)], .geodesic, pos)
      }
    }
    pos -= 50000

    DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: DispatchTime.now() + 0.1) {
      self.animatePath()
    }
  }
}
PolylinesViewController.swift

Objective-C

#import "GoogleMapsDemos/Samples/PolylinesViewController.h"

#import <GoogleMaps/GoogleMaps.h>

static CLLocationCoordinate2D kSydneyAustralia = {-33.866901, 151.195988};
static CLLocationCoordinate2D kHawaiiUSA = {21.291982, -157.821856};
static CLLocationCoordinate2D kFiji = {-18, 179};
static CLLocationCoordinate2D kMountainViewUSA = {37.423802, -122.091859};
static CLLocationCoordinate2D kLimaPeru = {-12, -77};
static bool kAnimate = true;

@implementation PolylinesViewController {
  NSArray *_styles;
  NSArray *_lengths;
  NSArray *_polys;
  double _pos, _step;
  GMSMapView *_mapView;
}

- (void)tick {
  for (GMSPolyline *poly in _polys) {
    poly.spans = GMSStyleSpansOffset(poly.path, _styles, _lengths, kGMSLengthGeodesic, _pos);
  }
  _pos -= _step;
  if (kAnimate) {
    __weak id weakSelf = self;
    dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, NSEC_PER_SEC / 10), dispatch_get_main_queue(),
                   ^{
                     [weakSelf tick];
                   });
  }
}

- (void)initLines {
  if (!_polys) {
    NSMutableArray *polys = [NSMutableArray array];
    GMSMutablePath *path = [GMSMutablePath path];
    [path addCoordinate:kSydneyAustralia];
    [path addCoordinate:kFiji];
    [path addCoordinate:kHawaiiUSA];
    [path addCoordinate:kMountainViewUSA];
    [path addCoordinate:kLimaPeru];
    [path addCoordinate:kSydneyAustralia];
    path = [path pathOffsetByLatitude:-30 longitude:0];
    _lengths = @[ @([path lengthOfKind:kGMSLengthGeodesic] / 21) ];
    for (int i = 0; i < 30; ++i) {
      GMSPolyline *poly = [[GMSPolyline alloc] init];
      poly.path = [path pathOffsetByLatitude:(i * 1.5) longitude:0];
      poly.strokeWidth = 8;
      poly.geodesic = YES;
      poly.map = _mapView;
      [polys addObject:poly];
    }
    _polys = polys;
  }
}

- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];
  GMSCameraPosition *camera = [GMSCameraPosition cameraWithLatitude:-30 longitude:-175 zoom:3];
  GMSMapView *mapView = [GMSMapView mapWithFrame:CGRectZero camera:camera];
  mapView.accessibilityElementsHidden = YES;
  self.view = mapView;
  _mapView = mapView;

  CGFloat alpha = 1;
  UIColor *green = [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:1 blue:0 alpha:alpha];
  UIColor *greenTransp = [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:1 blue:0 alpha:0];
  UIColor *red = [UIColor colorWithRed:1 green:0 blue:0 alpha:alpha];
  UIColor *redTransp = [UIColor colorWithRed:1 green:0 blue:0 alpha:0];
  GMSStrokeStyle *grad1 = [GMSStrokeStyle gradientFromColor:green toColor:greenTransp];
  GMSStrokeStyle *grad2 = [GMSStrokeStyle gradientFromColor:redTransp toColor:red];
  _styles = @[
    grad1,
    grad2,
    [GMSStrokeStyle solidColor:[UIColor colorWithWhite:0 alpha:0]],
  ];
  _step = 50000;
  [self initLines];
  [self tick];
}

@end
PolylinesViewController.m

Run the full sample app locally

The Maps SDK for iOS sample app is available as a download archive from GitHub. Follow these steps to install and try the Maps SDK for iOS sample app.

  1. Run git clone https://github.com/googlemaps-samples/maps-sdk-for-ios-samples.git to clone the samples repository into a local directory.

  2. Open a terminal window, navigate to the directory where you cloned the sample files, and drill down into the GoogleMaps directory:

    Swift

    cd maps-sdk-for-ios-samples/GoogleMaps-Swift
pod install
open GoogleMapsSwiftXCFrameworkDemos.xcworkspace

    Objective-C

    cd maps-sdk-for-ios-samples-main/GoogleMaps
pod install
open GoogleMapsDemos.xcworkspace
  3. In Xcode, press the compile button to build the app with the current scheme. The build produces an error, prompting you to enter your API key in the SDKConstants.swift file for Swift orSDKDemoAPIKey.h file for Objective-C.
  4. Get an API key from your project with the Maps SDK for iOS enabled.
  5. Edit the SDKConstants.swift file for Swift orSDKDemoAPIKey.h file for Objective-C and paste your API key into the definition of either the apiKey or kAPIKey constant. For example:

    Swift

    static let apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY"

    Objective-C

    static NSString *const kAPIKey = @"YOUR_API_KEY";
  6. In the SDKConstants.swift file (Swift) orSDKDemoAPIKey.h file (Objective-C), remove the following line, because it's used to register the user-defined issue:

    Swift

    #error (Register for API Key and insert here. Then delete this line.)

    Objective-C

    #error Register for API Key and insert here.
  7. Build and run the project. The iOS simulator window appears, showing a list of Maps SDK Demos.
  8. Choose one of the options displayed, to experiment with a feature of the Maps SDK for iOS.
  9. If prompted to allow GoogleMapsDemos to access your location, choose Allow.