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Annotations

Add annotations to the map including point, circle, polyline, and polygon shapes using the Mapbox Maps SDK's Annotations API. Use the Annotations API to create annotation managers based on the type of annotation that you're interested in. Every annotation manager handles a collection of annotations. Once a manager has been created, you can create and add individually styled instances of the corresponding annotation type.

Benefits:

  • Built-in interaction support like selecting and dragging annotations around the map.
  • No external data file necessary.
  • Every annotation can be individually styled.
  • Every annotation layer can be adjusted to be above or below another layer.
  • Same performance benefits as using style layers.

Limitations:

  • No default marker image available.
  • Inefficient for adding many features (> 250) to the map.

Default markers

The Mapbox Maps SDK's Annotations API does not provide a default image for symbol layers. You must provide an image and add it to the style before using the PointAnnotationManager to add it to the map.

Download the red marker pin image and add it to your Android Studio project.

arrow-downDownload red marker image

// Create an instance of the Annotation API and get the PointAnnotationManager.
val annotationApi = mapView?.annotations
val pointAnnotationManager = annotationApi?.createPointAnnotationManager(mapView)
// Set options for the resulting symbol layer.
val pointAnnotationOptions: PointAnnotationOptions = PointAnnotationOptions()
// Define a geographic coordinate.
.withPoint(Point.fromLngLat(18.06, 59.31))
// Specify the bitmap you assigned to the point annotation
// The bitmap will be added to map style automatically.
.withIconImage(YOUR_ICON_BITMAP)
// Add the resulting pointAnnotation to the map.
pointAnnotationManager?.create(pointAnnotationOptions)

Other shapes

The Annotation API also supports putting other shapes on the map including circles using CircleAnnotationManager, polylines using PolylineAnnotationManager, and polygons using PolygonAnnotationManager. These annotations work like the point annotations described above, but do not require an image. The options available for each type of annotation varies and you can find a full list in the API reference documentation.

Circle annotation

A circle annotation (CircleAnnotation) places a circle at a point on the map.


// Create an instance of the Annotation API and get the CircleAnnotationManager.
val annotationApi = mapView?.annotations
val circleAnnotationManager = annotationApi?.createCircleAnnotationManager(mapView)
// Set options for the resulting circle layer.
val circleAnnotationOptions: CircleAnnotationOptions = CircleAnnotationOptions()
// Define a geographic coordinate.
.withPoint(Point.fromLngLat(18.06, 59.31))
// Style the circle that will be added to the map.
.withCircleRadius(8.0)
.withCircleColor("#ee4e8b")
.withCircleStrokeWidth(2.0)
.withCircleStrokeColor("#ffffff")
// Add the resulting circle to the map.
circleAnnotationManager?.create(circleAnnotationOptions)

Polyline annotation

A polyline annotation (PolylineAnnotation) connects a list of coordinates on the map with a polyline. The order of the coordinates in the list will determine the order in which to connect the points. Coordinate ordering works the same way as in the GeoJSON specification.


// Create an instance of the Annotation API and get the polyline manager.
val annotationApi = mapView?.annotations
polylineAnnotationManager = annotationApi.createPolylineAnnotationManager(mapView)
// Define a list of geographic coordinates to be connected.
val points = listOf(
Point.fromLngLat(17.94, 59.25),
Point.fromLngLat(18.18, 59.37)
)
// Set options for the resulting line layer.
val polylineAnnotationOptions: PolylineAnnotationOptions = PolylineAnnotationOptions()
.withPoints(points)
// Style the line that will be added to the map.
.withLineColor("#ee4e8b")
.withLineWidth(5.0)
// Add the resulting line to the map.
polylineAnnotationManager?.create(polylineAnnotationOptions)

Polygon annotation

A polygon annotation (PolygonAnnotation) takes a list of coordinates and will try to connect those coordinates and add the resulting polygonal shape to the map. The order of the coordinates in the list matters and works the same way as in the GeoJSON specification.


// Create an instance of the Annotation API and get the polygon manager.
val annotationApi = mapView?.annotations
val polygonAnnotationManager = annotationApi?.createPolygonAnnotationManager(mapView)
// Define a list of geographic coordinates to be connected.
val points = listOf(
listOf(
Point.fromLngLat(17.94, 59.25),
Point.fromLngLat(18.18, 59.25),
Point.fromLngLat(18.18, 59.37),
Point.fromLngLat(17.94, 59.37)
)
)
// Set options for the resulting fill layer.
val polygonAnnotationOptions: PolygonAnnotationOptions = PolygonAnnotationOptions()
.withPoints(points)
// Style the polygon that will be added to the map.
.withFillColor("#ee4e8b")
.withFillOpacity(0.4)
// Add the resulting polygon to the map.
polygonAnnotationManager?.create(polygonAnnotationOptions)

Interactivity

The Annotation API includes the ability make annotations draggable and handles drag gestures for you. You can specify that annotations should be draggable when adding the annotation to the map initially.

val pointAnnotationOptions: PointAnnotationOptions = PointAnnotationOptions()
.withPoint(Point.fromLngLat(18.06, 59.31))
.withIconImage(YOUR_ICON_BITMAP)
// Make the annotation draggable.
.withDraggable(true)
// Add the draggable pointAnnotation to the map.
pointAnnotationManager?.create(pointAnnotationOptions)

Or, you can update an annotation that's already been added to the map to be draggable.

// When a user clicks on a draggable menu item defined in the layout,
// then toggle whether all point annotations are draggable.
R.id.menu_action_draggable -> {
pointAnnotationManager?.annotations?.forEach {
it.isDraggable = !it.isDraggable
}
}
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