Ios – How to launch the Google Maps iPhone application from within the own native application

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The Apple Developer Documentation (link is dead now) explains that if you place a link in a web page and then click it whilst using Mobile Safari on the iPhone, the Google Maps application that is provided as standard with the iPhone will launch.

How can I launch the same Google Maps application with a specific address from within my own native iPhone application (i.e. not a web page through Mobile Safari) in the same way that tapping an address in Contacts launches the map?

NOTE: THIS ONLY WORKS ON THE DEVICE ITSELF. NOT IN THE SIMULATOR.

Best Answer

For iOS 5.1.1 and lower, use the openURL method of UIApplication. It will perform the normal iPhone magical URL reinterpretation. so

[someUIApplication openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://maps.google.com/maps?q=London"]]

should invoke the Google maps app.

From iOS 6, you'll be invoking Apple's own Maps app. For this, configure an MKMapItem object with the location you want to display, and then send it the openInMapsWithLaunchOptions message. To start at the current location, try:

[[MKMapItem mapItemForCurrentLocation] openInMapsWithLaunchOptions:nil];

You'll need to be linked against MapKit for this (and it will prompt for location access, I believe).