To understand the implications and uses of this feature, you’ll first need to understand what map tiles are. Briefly, web maps use a tile server to obtain map tiles for display.
The term “map rendering” refers to the creation of a visual map from raw geospatial data. Custom map tiles allow you to use different map tiles from various GIS (Geographic Information System) service providers that provide map tiles, allowing you to use maps better suited for your purposes than the default maps in our platform.
Our platform uses default mapping sources for iOS (Apple Maps), Android (Google Maps), and for Windows and Web (Thunderforest).
Custom map tiles can be globally set on an organizational level on your Organization’s Setup or individually when designing screens. The screens and fields which support this feature are:
- Mapping Screens
- Location Field
- Media Field
(when you specify “Include GPS Information”) - Gallery Field Media
(when you specify “Include GPS Information”)
Note, tile loading times can be afffected by poor device connectivity, the provider, or the type of tiles being used.
CONTENTS
- Examples
- Adding a Custom Tile Source (Global)
- Configuring Screens
- Configuring Fields
- In-App Behaviour
- API Integrations
Examples
Below are some examples of what custom tiles look like when viewed on Android.
Google Maps |
National Geographic  |
Esri.WorldImagery |
OPNVKarte |
As can be seen, custom tiles offer a “world” of possibilities with regard to the types of maps you can render in your applications and output in your reports.
To test the examples used in the screenshots above, below are the custom tile URLs you can use (instructions on how to implement can be found further on in this article):
- National Geographic Custom Tile https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/NatGeo_World_Map/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}
- Esri.WorldImagery
https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x} - OPNVKarte
<a href="https://tileserver.memomaps.de/tilegen/{z" rel=