Alternative iOS mapping SDK, MapBox, hits 1.0 with a host of improvements

MapBox, a service for designing and publishing custom maps, has launched version 1.0 of its iOS SDK. According to MapBox, this release marks the “completion of the [SDK’s] first stage of functionality and stability” since it made its debut last year.

We originally highlighted the SDK, which is based on OpenStreetMap, post-launch for its high quality, customizable maps that challenged Apple’s own MapKit. Now, MapBox has received a number of new features and fixes, including improved documentation and changes which allow for easier memory management.

More specifically, MapBox shares that it has added a new code examples gallery, support for Automatic Reference Counting (ARC), improved documentation, code cleanups and consistency tweaks. Additional changes below:

• Added delegate callbacks for annotation selection & deselection notification.
• Added a long press gesture recognizer for annotation layers.
• Added an API for setting an SDK-wide custom user-agent string for network requests.
• Added a convenience method for MBTiles tile sources to more easily find them in your app’s bundle.
• Allow selection of a nil annotation in order to deselect the current annotation.
• Added an API for clearing MapBox marker local caching.
• Map views now default to a watermarked MapBox Streets map instead of OpenStreetMap.
• User location accuracy circle now bounces when first homing in on coordinate.
• Compass heading path now adjusts width based on heading accuracy reading.
• Annotation clustering API is now much simpler and easier to use.
• Privatized some header files to reduce clutter during Xcode autocompletion.
• Latest upstream improvements, including constraints, annotation z-ordering, and bounding box fixes.

For more on the evolution of the MapBox iOS SDK, head here.