Product 101: Mapping SDKs

Mappedin’s Software Development Kits (SDKs) take indoor mapping to the next level. At Mappedin, we give you the tools you need to create, customize, and enhance your own unique maps all powered through our proficient SDKs. Mappedin’s SDKs are the foundation of every indoor mapping experience we’ve built, and they can be the foundation for your mapping application too. 

What is an SDK?

Imagine you are going to a birthday party and need to quickly bake a cake. There is no time to buy all of the ingredients and start from scratch, and that’s where a pre-made cake mix comes in as a saviour. Our SDKs are the cake mix for building indoor maps so you can build and maintain applications without writing code from scratch. SDKs are packages of code with pre-built functionality that we provide to you all in one installable package. SDKs are essentially downloadable tool kits that you can use to build a customized 3D mapping experience that suits the needs of your application.  

How does it work?

Mappedin’s SDKs are built on top of existing libraries (existing packages of code) to build an end-user experience. We offer well-documented resources for all features and components across iOS, Android and Web to make getting started with our SDKs a simple process. At Mappedin, we ensure you have the tools needed to build a unique mapping experience that fits your brand and required functionality. Our documentation offers details on how to connect our code to your application through sample applications, how-to guides and descriptions of individual codes and functions such as "getPositionLatLon", which translates geocoordinates to coordinates in our mapping software.

SDKs can be simple to use when provided with our sample applications. Sample apps are examples of functioning code that shows the capability of the SDK. Going back to our cake mix analogy, sample apps are the instructions on the back of the box explaining how to bake the cake. Developers can learn from sample apps as it can frame their understanding of the SDK. Sample apps show the exact code needed to perform an action and allow developers to easily modify and experiment with our SDKs after learning from that action. 

When working with our SDKs, we offer developers the ability to use React Native for Android and iOS devices through the same platform, making SDKs easily accessible to all. React Native can be more cost efficient with fast development incentives. SDKs can create experiences across all devices and can fit into any platform, making for an effortless integration when building innovative map features and experiences.

Product Features:

3-D Map: Zoom, pan, and rotate when using Mappedin’s 3D maps. 3D maps are an essential part of our SDK that acts as a foundation for the rest of our features. Think of our 3D maps as the flour mix and the rest of our features as the water, eggs, chocolate chips, or sprinkles!

A-B Wayfinding: Mappedin allows users to navigate their way through any venue. Wayfinding is a seamless experience that operates between two predefined locations, or from a user’s current location, to any point of interest on the map. Use our SDK to search for points of interest or explore category listings to get accurate turn-by-turn directions on any device.

Multi-Stop and Multi-Floor Wayfinding: This SDK uses pre-built functionality for users to plan additional stops or for routes that require multi-floor travel. Mappedin employs a simple-to-use API signature for all of the navigation happening in the SDKs with turn-by-turn directions for users.

Indoor Positioning: With the implementation of blue dot technology, users can locate themselves and get directions from their precise location in real-time. Through Apple fingerprinting technology or Android indoor positioning solutions such as Indoor Atlas, our SDKs are able to present a seamless wayfinding experience to your application users.

Follow Mode: As you travel through your venue, Follow-Mode ensures the map will automatically rotate for every turn along the way with no need to pan or move the map to keep up with you. The blue dot experience is enhanced by having the camera focused on the blue dot in top/down to 3rd person view angles throughout the entire journey.

Smart Label: Smart labels are used to indicate locations on the map and are powered by a ranking algorithm to ensure labels are visible at all times. Users are able to pan, zoom and rotate the map without losing the clarity of smart labels. 

Smart Search: Mappedin's Smart Search is an AI-driven feature of Mappedin’s platform. End-users can type and receive predictive results to make finding points of interest easier. Smart Search enables users to search by location, category, brand, and more. 

Amenity Icons: Use this SDK to implement pre-designed images to signal the location of elevators, escalators, restrooms, and other amenities located on your map.

Offline Support: Our SDK allows for our mapping experience to fully function while disconnected and will update once reconnected. The SDK gives you the tools to cache and load venue maps from cached data, enabling users to view the maps offline.

Advanced Markers: Mappedin’s Advanced Markers make it possible to reproduce any type of layout ranging from a simple marker to a Tooltip rendered with HTML content.

RTL Text: Mappedin’s SDK allows customers to have right to left text support in their map to support all customers and users around the world.

External IDs: Mappedin’s maps are capable of integrating any data on top of the map when using external IDs. Our SDKs are well suited for integration with software programs in any industry. 

Customer and User Benefits 

SDKs are designed for those who have a vision to expand and create a completely custom mapping and navigation system. With our SDKs, developers can implement the latest innovative technology that fits their needs perfectly. Evolve your company by adding a navigation system that can be designed as an extension of your brand through our SDKs. SDKs can be used within pre-existing apps, integrated with other experiences such as proximity marketing, washroom wait time estimates, mobile food ordering, and more, or used as a visualization layer for critical venue data. 

With strong documentation, sample applications, tutorials, and step-by-step getting started guides, we can empower developers to utilize indoor mapping in advanced and creative ways. At Mappedin, we ensure you have the core elements running when setting up a new venue, before incorporating features unique to your experience so you can start building on the right track.

Mappedin prioritizes a seamless integration with our SDKs, that’s why our integrations team is dedicated to the evolution of our SDKs and offers support when implementing our product into a customer’s platform. We help our customers so they can help their users. Ultimately, SDKs allow creativity to flourish when creating indoor navigation systems with perks that extend your vision into a reality.

The possibilities are endless with Mappedin’s SDKs and we make sure you have the tools needed to create an impactful execution of our maps. To learn more about our SDKs, visit our developer portal, or contact us for a demo.