MGLStyle

 

@interface MGLStyle : NSObject

The proxy object for the current map style.

MGLStyle provides a set of convenience methods for changing Mapbox default styles using MGLMapView.styleURL. Learn more about Mapbox default styles.

It is also possible to directly manipulate the current map style via MGLMapView.style by updating the style’s data sources or layers.

Note

Wait until the map style has finished loading before modifying a map’s style via any of the MGLStyle instance methods below. You can use the -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapView:didFinishLoadingStyle:] or -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapViewDidFinishLoadingMap:] methods as indicators that it’s safe to modify the map’s style.

See the Default styles example to learn how to initialize an MGLMapView object with a Mapbox default style using MGLStyle‘s class methods.

Accessing Default Styles

Accessing Metadata About the Style

  • The name of the style.

    You can customize the style’s name in Mapbox Studio.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (copy, readonly, nullable) NSString *name;

    Swift

    var name: String? { get }
    View Source on GitHub

Managing Sources

  • A set containing the style’s sources.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, strong) NSSet<__kindof MGLSource *> *_Nonnull sources;

    Swift

    var sources: Set<AnyHashable> { get set }
    View Source on GitHub

  • Values describing animated transitions to changes on a style’s individual paint properties.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) MGLTransition transition;

    Swift

    var transition: MGLTransition { get set }
    View Source on GitHub

  • A boolean value indicating whether label placement transitions are enabled.

    The default value of this property is YES.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic) BOOL performsPlacementTransitions;

    Swift

    var performsPlacementTransitions: Bool { get set }
    View Source on GitHub

  • Returns a source with the given identifier in the current style.

    Note

    Source identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids source identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s sources over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nullable MGLSource *)sourceWithIdentifier:(nonnull NSString *)identifier;

    Swift

    func source(withIdentifier identifier: String) -> MGLSource?

    Return Value

    An instance of a concrete subclass of MGLSource associated with the given identifier, or nil if the current style contains no such source.

    View Source on GitHub

  • Adds a new source to the current style.

    Note

    Adding the same source instance more than once will result in a MGLRedundantSourceException. Reusing the same source identifier, even with different source instances, will result in a MGLRedundantSourceIdentifierException.

    Note

    Sources should be added in -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapView:didFinishLoadingStyle:] or -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapViewDidFinishLoadingMap:] to ensure that the map has loaded the style and is ready to accept a new source.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)addSource:(nonnull MGLSource *)source;

    Swift

    func addSource(_ source: MGLSource)

    Parameters

    source

    The source to add to the current style.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Removes a source from the current style.

    Note

    Source identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids source identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s sources over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)removeSource:(nonnull MGLSource *)source;

    Swift

    func removeSource(_ source: MGLSource)

    Parameters

    source

    The source to remove from the current style.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Removes a source from the current style.

    Note

    Source identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids source identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s sources over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (BOOL)removeSource:(nonnull MGLSource *)source
               error:(NSError *_Nullable *_Nullable)outError;

    Swift

    func removeSource(_ source: MGLSource, error: ()) throws

    Parameters

    source

    The source to remove from the current style.
    outError

    Upon return, if an error has occurred, a pointer to an NSError object describing the error. Pass in NULL to ignore any error.

    Return Value

    YES if source was removed successfully. If NO, outError contains an NSError object describing the problem.

    View Source on GitHub

Managing Style Layers

  • The layers included in the style, arranged according to their back-to-front ordering on the screen.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    @property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray<__kindof MGLStyleLayer *> *_Nonnull layers;

    Swift

    var layers: [MGLStyleLayer] { get set }
    View Source on GitHub

  • Returns a style layer with the given identifier in the current style.

    Note

    Layer identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids layer identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s layers over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nullable MGLStyleLayer *)layerWithIdentifier:(nonnull NSString *)identifier;

    Swift

    func layer(withIdentifier identifier: String) -> MGLStyleLayer?

    Return Value

    An instance of a concrete subclass of MGLStyleLayer associated with the given identifier, or nil if the current style contains no such style layer.

    View Source on GitHub

  • Adds a new layer on top of existing layers.

    Note

    Adding the same layer instance more than once will result in a MGLRedundantLayerException. Reusing the same layer identifer, even with different layer instances, will also result in an exception.

    Note

    Layers should be added in -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapView:didFinishLoadingStyle:] or -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapViewDidFinishLoadingMap:] to ensure that the map has loaded the style and is ready to accept a new layer.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)addLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)layer;

    Swift

    func addLayer(_ layer: MGLStyleLayer)

    Parameters

    layer

    The layer object to add to the map view. This object must be an instance of a concrete subclass of MGLStyleLayer.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Inserts a new layer into the style at the given index.

    Note

    Adding the same layer instance more than once will result in a MGLRedundantLayerException. Reusing the same layer identifer, even with different layer instances, will also result in an exception.

    Note

    Layers should be added in -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapView:didFinishLoadingStyle:] or -[MGLMapViewDelegate mapViewDidFinishLoadingMap:] to ensure that the map has loaded the style and is ready to accept a new layer.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)insertLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)layer atIndex:(NSUInteger)index;

    Swift

    func insertLayer(_ layer: MGLStyleLayer, at index: UInt)

    Parameters

    layer

    The layer to insert.
    index

    The index at which to insert the layer. An index of 0 would send the layer to the back; an index equal to the number of objects in the layers property would bring the layer to the front.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Inserts a new layer below another layer.

    Note

    Layer identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids layer identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s layers over time.

    Inserting the same layer instance more than once will result in a MGLRedundantLayerException. Reusing the same layer identifer, even with different layer instances, will also result in an exception.

    See the Add multiple shapes from a single shape source example to learn how to add a layer to your map below an existing layer.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)insertLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)layer
         belowLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)sibling;

    Swift

    func insertLayer(_ layer: MGLStyleLayer, below sibling: MGLStyleLayer)

    Parameters

    layer

    The layer to insert.
    sibling

    An existing layer in the style.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Inserts a new layer above another layer.

    Note

    Layer identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids layer identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s layers over time.

    Inserting the same layer instance more than once will result in a MGLRedundantLayerException. Reusing the same layer identifer, even with different layer instances, will also result in an exception.

    See the Add an image example to learn how to add a layer to your map above an existing layer.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)insertLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)layer
         aboveLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)sibling;

    Swift

    func insertLayer(_ layer: MGLStyleLayer, above sibling: MGLStyleLayer)

    Parameters

    layer

    The layer to insert.
    sibling

    An existing layer in the style.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Removes a layer from the map view.

    Note

    Layer identifiers are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids layer identifer name changes that will occur in the default style’s layers over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)removeLayer:(nonnull MGLStyleLayer *)layer;

    Swift

    func removeLayer(_ layer: MGLStyleLayer)

    Parameters

    layer

    The layer object to remove from the map view. This object must conform to the MGLStyleLayer protocol.
    View Source on GitHub

Managing a Style’s Images

  • Returns the image associated with the given name in the style.

    Note

    Names and their associated images are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids image name changes that will occur in the default style over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (nullable UIImage *)imageForName:(nonnull NSString *)name;

    Swift

    func image(forName name: String) -> UIImage?

    Parameters

    name

    The name associated with the image you want to obtain.

    Return Value

    The image associated with the given name, or nil if no image is associated with that name.

    View Source on GitHub

  • Adds or overrides an image used by the style’s layers.

    To use an image in a style layer, give it a unique name using this method, then set the iconImageName property of an MGLSymbolStyleLayer object to that name.

    See the Use images to cluster point data and Cluster point data examples to learn how to add images to your map using an MGLStyle object.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)setImage:(nonnull UIImage *)image forName:(nonnull NSString *)name;

    Swift

    func setImage(_ image: UIImage, forName name: String)

    Parameters

    image

    The image for the name.
    name

    The name of the image to set to the style.
    View Source on GitHub

  • Removes a name and its associated image from the style.

    Note

    Names and their associated images are not guaranteed to exist across styles or different versions of the same style. Applications that use this API must first set the style URL to an explicitly versioned style using a convenience method like +[MGLStyle outdoorsStyleURLWithVersion:], MGLMapView’s “Style URL” inspectable in Interface Builder, or a manually constructed NSURL. This approach also avoids image name changes that will occur in the default style over time.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)removeImageForName:(nonnull NSString *)name;

    Swift

    func removeImage(forName name: String)

    Parameters

    name

    The name of the image to remove.
    View Source on GitHub

Managing the Style's Light

Localizing Map Content

  • Attempts to localize labels in the style into the given locale.

    This method automatically modifies the text property of any symbol style layer in the style whose source is the Mapbox Streets source. On iOS, the user can set the system’s preferred language in Settings, General Settings, Language & Region. On macOS, the user can set the system’s preferred language in the Language & Region pane of System Preferences.

    Declaration

    Objective-C

    - (void)localizeLabelsIntoLocale:(nullable NSLocale *)locale;

    Swift

    func localizeLabels(into locale: Locale?)

    Parameters

    locale

    The locale into which labels should be localized. To use the system’s preferred language, if supported, specify nil. To use the local language, specify a locale with the identifier mul.
    View Source on GitHub