What are the Advantages / Disadvantages of Map Kit Bing Cards on iOS

Microsoft recently released the Bing binding c-object component.

Look here and here

They mention that they have less restrictive terms:

We think that you will find that the terms of use are less restrictive than what you find in the Apple Map Kit, without any sacrifice in functionality.

What exactly does this mean? Can we now save map images in our application for offline use, for example?

  • What other benefits are there?
  • What are the disadvantages of using bing cards for a set of cards?
+7
source share
3 answers

I just ported a small application to Bing Maps and is as simple as removing MapKit imports and using Bing classes. The API is almost the same, sometimes names change, for example, addAnnotations becomes addMarkers and the like.

The screen went black when I added 1000 contacts, which seems to be the limit. There really is no reason to do this simply by checking performance.: P This happened with the developer's key. In addition, cards are fast

There are many functions in the sea: Features of the Bing Maps platform , such as pushpin clusters, but I have not seen the mention of grepping docs. I don’t understand why Apple or Bing do not implement k-mean clusters, this is not a big effort. Until then, you must do it yourself.

So, a short story, and without much testing, it is the same. I expected some extra candy to attract developers, but I have no reason to stop using Google maps.

I even like the google map labeling style.

+1
source

I can’t talk about any advantages, but only because I have not tried it yet - I plan in the future :)

However, I can come up with a few drawbacks -

1) The user excludes the card in the application in order to have a certain appearance and the feeling that they are used with the component of the card of Apple. By changing this, the application will become less familiar and, therefore, will become less convenient to use. Bing would have a giant leap forward in this usability, and it is a set of functions for this to be biased.

2) The components of the Apple card are already shipped with the iPhone - they are probably already loaded into memory. This means that using a third-party map library means that you will have a larger application that takes longer to launch.

3) Apple components have been tried and tested for many years - the Bing library is relatively new. Obviously, this will change over time, and eventually they will become mature libraries, but right now I prefer to trust the old code base with known bugs and many fixes :)

4) It's tiny - I have no problems with restrictions on apples, so less restrictive terms are not a real selling point for me (although I understand that this will be different for different users and use cases).

But, as I said, I'm ready to give Bing :)

+2
source

I find it surprising that no one has mentioned the most obvious difference besides the licensing terms, which is that the Map Kit uses images and data from Google Maps (or their partners), while the Bing Maps component uses images from Microsoft and data (or their partners).

When comparing these two factors, several factors should be considered:

  • Completeness and accuracy of map data
  • Accuracy
  • How often is it updated
  • Image resolution
  • ...

There are also more subjective preferences for things like card labeling style, etc. Note that the 41latitude link, previously posted by Yano, compares the previous Bing Maps road style. Most countries (with the exception of Great Britain and Japan) now use the Lavender road style on Bing Maps, as described here: http://www.bing.com/community/site_blogs/b/maps/archive/2010/12/15 /announcing-v1-1-of-the-new-map-style.aspx

In my experience, neither Google Maps nor Bing Maps have consistently improved in quality around the world, but there are certainly regional differences in which one is clearly better than the other. If your application is intended for use only in a specific geographical area (in a specific country, only in urban areas ... etc.), I recommend that you look at what two providers offer for this specific area. Of course, both providers have a rolling update program, so just because today is better does not necessarily mean that it will be better tomorrow ...

In the past, I made a couple of blog posts comparing Google Maps, Bing Maps, and Open Street Maps in the UK, which may seem interesting to demonstrate what to look for (including incorrectly marked or missing roads, routing routes that lead to down the hiking trails ...):

+2
source

All Articles