we are creating a free game that like Pokemon Go, has their roads from their surroundings reflected in the game so you can move around on them.
We built the game using Unity3D and Google static maps API.
Our concern is their is a huge cost if we exceed downloads with a key.
Question:
Is there a free way to get unlimited maps or road details?
Is a key required since each user has their own IP? We noticed it seems to work fine without a key but we are not certain of any restrictions on this.
Would love some good advice and pointers!!
Thanks,
--Mike
Is a key required since each user has their own IP? We noticed it
seems to work fine without a key but we are not certain of any
restrictions on this.
Google Map will always work without a key but there are few limitations such as map resolution when using it without a key. The free version is made for ordinary users. There is also request limit per day without a key. So, once your player hit that threshold, they won't be able to make more requests.
You need a key(paid version) since this is used for commercial purposes.
You will likely violate the Google Maps Terms of Service if you use this for a commercial purposes without a key.
Is there a free way to get unlimited maps or road details?
No, there is no such thing as unlimited maps with Google Maps. You pay by how many request is made with your key. Another option you have is the OpenStreetMap which is free. I haven't used this and can't say how good it is.
Related
I made a game that I would like to publish on the paid PlayStore.
I was wondering how I can protect the characters I created from
being used by other people in their games.
The word "Verification status" appears on Google API Developer,
should I fill in the fields that I am leaving empty (See photo)? If yes, can you explain in detail what and how to do it?
Could I publish the game anyway?
I thank you in advance for your availability.
To my knowledge there is no reliable approach that would protect your game resources - that being graphical assets or your source code. You can probably make it a little bit harder to read by some obfuscation mechanism or some sort of encoding that will require a special key, but overall it's not worth the time. Just take a look at big titles being cracked and pirated in spite of the fact that the companies that are producing them have millions of dollars to their disposal.
Besides remember that all resources you create belong to you. You're the owner and creator and it is yours intellectual property. Using them without your consent would equal breaking the law and you could always seek for compensation on the legal route.
It all depends if you're using those oAuth etc features in your game
The service or library that cleans the address needs to be callable from a custom .NET wrapper service or library. There is no UI requirement to display a map, or track delivery of a physical package to a postal address.
https://www.usps.com/business/webtools.htm is out as an option because the terms of use are restricted to applications supporting the physical delivery of packages.
It seems that both google and Bing have terms of use that restrict application development usage to presentation of maps in a UI.
Here's an example of using google JavaScript library for geocoding address lookups. It seems to work well. Unfortunately I can’t use this, but looking for something that works nearly as well.
http://jsfiddle.net/Robotronic/ayfgT/
I have been looking for the same thing lately, and have a couple of possibilities. Since I don't have my home computer at work, the only one I can remember now is SmartyStreets.com. They give you a small number for free, then you have to pay after that. I have one more, which I can get a little later tonight.
It may be out of your price range, but my company has used Melissa Data for quite a while and the only failures were on super-new housing developments. I think they also send us periodic database updates.
We need to display meta information (e.g, address, name) on our site for various venues like bars, restaurants, and theaters.
Ideally, users would type in the name of a venue, along with zip code, and we present the closest matches.
Which APIs have people used for similar geolocation purposes? What are the pros and cons of each?
Our basic research yielded a few options (listed in title and below). We're curious to hear how others have deployed these APIs and which ones are ultimately in use.
Fwix API: http://developers.fwix.com/
Zumigo
Does Facebook plan on offering a Places API eventually that could accomplish this?
Thanks!
Facebook Places is based on Factual. You can use Factual's API which is pretty good (and still free, I think?)
http://www.factual.com/topic/local
You can also use unauthenticated Foursquare as a straight places database. The data is of uneven quality since it's crowdsourced, but I find it generally good. It's free to a certain API limit, but I think the paid tier is negotiated.
https://developer.foursquare.com/
I briefly looked at Google Places but didn't like it because of all the restrictions on how you have to display results (Google wants their ad revenue).
It's been a long time since this question was asked but a quick update on answers for other people.
This post, right now at least, will not go into great detail about each service but merely lists them:
http://wiki.developer.factual.com/w/page/12298852/start
http://developer.yp.com
http://www.yelp.com/developers/documentation
https://developer.foursquare.com/
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/places/
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/api/
https://simplegeo.com/docs/api-endpoints/simplegeo-context
http://www.citygridmedia.com/developer/
http://fwix.com/developer_tools
http://localeze.com/
They each have their pros and cons (i.e. Google Places only allows 20 results per query, Foursquare and Facebook Places have semi-unreliable results) which can be explained a bit more in detail, although not entirely, in the following link. http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-each-Places-API
For my own project I ended up deciding to go with Factual's API since there are no restrictions on what you do with the data (one of the only ToS' that I've read in its entirety). Factual has a pretty reliable API, which as a user of the API you may update, modify, or flag rows of the data. Facebook Places bases their data on Factual's, just another fact to shed some perspective.
Hope I can be of help to any future searchers.
This is not a complete answer, because I havn't compared the given geolocation API, but there is also the Google Places API, which solves a similiar problem like the other APIs.
One thing about SimpleGeo: The Location API of SimpleGeo supports mainly US (and Canada?) based locations. The last time I checked, my home country Germany doesn't has many known locations.
Comparison between places data APIs is tough to keep up to date, with the fast past of the space, and with acquisitions like SimpleGeo and HyperPublic changing the landscape quickly.
So I'll just throw in CityGrids perspective as of February 2012. CityGrid provides 18M US places, allowing up to 10M requests per month for developers (publishers) at no charge.
You can search using a wide range of "what" and "where" (Cities, Neighborhoods, Zip Codes, Metro Areas, Addresses, Intersections) searches including latlong. We have rich data for each place including images, videos, reviews, offers, etc.
CityGrid also has a developer revenue sharing program where we'll pay you to display some places as well as large mobile and web advertising network.
You can also query Places via the CityGrid API using Factual, Foursquare and other places providers places and venue IDs. We aggregate data from several places data providers through our system.
Website: http://developer.citygridmedia.com/
How does one build a directory of 'Spots' for users to check-in to in a native iPhone app? Or, does the developer borrow data from, let's say, Google Maps?
When you Use data obtained from another network or source, you take a risk that the data may change and or may not be accurate, The data may cease to exist, (more so with google, LOL, one minute they are there like gangbusters, the next they are like "Gone" no explanation no apologies, just missing in action, if your developing an application for a business its always best to use your own data sources.
That may be more expensive but its the only way you will have any kind of control over your application resources,.
You can go both ways, it depends on what you want to do and how you designed it to do it. You can have a prerecorded and static database of spots, or you can update it sometimes connecting to some server or you can do it all dynamically by loading each time data from the internet.
Which one to choose? first you shall design your app having in mind something like:
How many times will these datas change
How frequently will these changes happen
How much will it cost to do an update
and so on
Developing your own database of places is likely to be quite an undertaking (and your competitors have a big head start). Google is beginning to provide their Places API for "check-in" style applications, so you may be able to get in on their beta.
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So, this question is not if I can do routing with mapkit. You can't with the API. So I found the clever way of using an annotation to render a route between two points. The route is based on a series of lat/long values. In my app, I use it to render a route (but not for vehicles or walking). There is no list of directions, so it's not turn by turn. Just shows the line on the map.
This may be more legal, but does this violate the license? Is there the possibility that my app could be rejected? This is a very big deal for my app. Has anyone gotten a commercial app out using this method?
You should not be allowed to display a route on top of the map. The terms state clearly that you are not allowed to display route guidance.
http://code.google.com/intl/de/apis/maps/iphone/terms.html
10.9 use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with:
(a) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device;
(b) any systems or functions for automatic or autonomous control of vehicle behavior; or
(c) dispatch, fleet management, business asset tracking, or similar enterprise applications (the Google Maps API can be used to track assets (such as cars, buses or other vehicles) as long as the tracking application is made available to the public without charge. For example, you may offer a free, public Maps API Implementation that displays real-time public transit or other transportation status information.
You may want to look at http://www.cloudmade.com
and the route-me library which gives you much more freedom.
What you want to do seems like it is OK, as long as when you are showing routes you do not display the user position. I am basing this on the docs here (linked to from the MKMapView documentation):
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/iphone/terms.html.
that state you cannot:
10.9 use the Service or Content with any products, systems, or applications for or in connection with:
(a) real time navigation or route guidance, including but not limited to turn-by-turn route guidance that is synchronized to the position of a user's sensor-enabled device;
(b) any systems or functions for automatic or autonomous control of vehicle behavior; or
(c) dispatch, fleet management, business asset tracking, or similar enterprise applications (the Google Maps API can be used to track assets (such as cars, buses or other vehicles) as long as the tracking application is made available to the public without charge. For example, you may offer a free, public Maps API Implementation that displays real-time public transit or other transportation status information.
Even that language I feel is a bit fuzzy on if you can show user location or not along with routes, if you do not adjust the map coordinates automatically to follow the user.
Given the inconsistency of the app store approval process, what got through for one person may not get through for somebody else.
I believe the only requirement of the MapKit license (which is from Google and not Apple) is that you do not sell an application that features only a map + additional features built around the map. If the map feature was just a small piece of the application then it's fine, I believe.
I don't think that Apple will enforce this when approving apps, though. Unless you're using undocumented/underground API then you should be fine getting through to the App Store.