Hi. I am developing a paid for app that uses MapKit. The app will display maps (satellite or standard), based on latitude and longitude from an internal database. Other than the latitude and longitude to display a map, there is no navigation involved. I

Why are you asking about Google? Before you release, you should clarify exactly what you are doing, what you are displaying, and what data you are using.

Apple's modern MapKit uses its own data. Google is not involved. There was an older MapKit based on Google data. I don't know if that even runs anymore. Please tell me you aren't targetting that.

I'm not using Apple's MapKit right now, so I've lost track of it a bit. But I don't think there are any api keys necessary if you are building iOS or Mac apps. If you are using MapKitJS via a web page, that is different. You would need an api key there.

What is this "internal database"? Where did you get this data? Do you have rights to it?

Apple also has some pretty dense legalese with respect to maps. If you are doing something other than using Maps to show directions, then you should probably have a lawyer review what you are doing and what you are allowed to do under the terms of the Apple maps license.

Hi John

Thanks guys for replying. I had misread the Apple docs! It is ONLY using Apple mapkit and not Google maps. However, the app is unlikely to generate enough downloads to warrant the expense of getting a lawyer involved. The app purely homes in on lat and long found in the database. The user can then pan around for places of interest. The database is my edited version of a freely avialable one.

There are literally thousands of apps using MapKit to embed maps in their apps...big and small.

You should always read license information but I'm guessing that you're implementation isn't looking to do any thing nefarious.

Open: https://download.developer.apple.com/Documentation/License_Agreements__Apple_Developer_Program/Apple_Developer_Program_License_Agreement_20181019.pdf for a pretty darn readable license agreement and search for MapKit.

-Mark

There is no such thing as "freely available". Where, specifically, did you get this data? Under what license are you using it? If the data is explicitly said to be "Public Domain" then you can treat that as "freely available". Anything else means you are using the data under some type of license, even if you don't pay any money for it. Some types of "free" licenses are prohibited in Apple's App Stores due to various legal constraints and requirements. Far too many developers are clueless about these things.

What you have described is a "derivative work" of this database. Creating such a work may impose another set of requirements on you. I strongly encourge you to do more research on this. If you don't want to pay for a lawyer to review this, consider how much it will cost to hire a lawyer to defend yourself if you are infringing on someone's intellectual property rights. Be very, very careful any time you use someone else's data or code.

According to what you have described, it sounds like you are allowed to do that under Apple's Apple Maps licensing terms. I would agree that Attachment 6 (Additional Terms for the use of the Apple Maps Service) of the Apple Developer Agreement is pretty darn readable as far as such things go. However, it is also pretty darn restrictive. If you have your own coordinates, you can focus on that area and pan around. But if you ever want to add any new features beyond that, be very, very careful.

Someone might say that my first two paragraphs above are scare-mongering and that most people don't care about use of "free data". That's generally true. People do use and abuse free data and don't worry about such things: "Licenses? We don't need no stinking licenses!" But Apple is different. Apple treats access to its properly very seriously. Read attachment 6 very carefully.