Vector maps in Cocoa applications on OS X

Minh Nguyễn
Tue, 10 May 2016 17:10:00 -0400

The Mapbox OS X SDK is a community-maintained port of Mapbox GL Native. The same library that powers interactive, customizable vector maps on iOS, Android, and the cross-platform Qt framework runs just as fluidly in native Cocoa applications on OS X.

If you’ve developed a Mapbox-powered iOS application using our “First steps” guide, you can create a native companion application for OS X largely by repeating the same process. An MGLMapView control can be embedded in a standard Cocoa window using Objective-C, Swift, or Interface Builder storyboards. Your application will benefit from tight platform integration, from Cocoa’s popovers and visual effect views to its support for multitouch gestures like pinching and rotating. Meanwhile, the striking styles you design in Mapbox Studio will look identical across every platform, from the Web to the Mac.

The Mapbox iOS SDK directly benefits from any contributions to the OS X SDK by Mac developers. Not only do the iOS and OS X SDKs share a cross-platform core written in C++ and OpenGL, but they also share thousands of lines of Objective-C source code and unit tests that form the majority of the OS X SDK.

The Mapbox OS X SDK is open source, powered by open data, so your contributions are always welcome. Find it in the mapbox-gl-native repository on GitHub.