Add predefined map features

Add map features

In addition to map schemes, the HERE SDK supports specialized layers called MapFeatures. These features allow you to overlay additional data on the map.

MapFeatures can be configured with different MapFeatureModes to control its visual appearance. For example, 3D landmarks can be displayed using textured or non-textured modes. Landmarks are enabled by default for most map schemes.

To see which MapFeatures and MapFeatureModes are enabled by default for each MapScheme, refer to default features and modes per map scheme in the HERE Style Editor documentation.

Note

Note that not all MapFeatures are available for all licenses. Take a look at the API Reference to know which layers are supported for your licence.

Adding MapFeatures may have a performance impact.

Feature	Description	In Explore	In Navigate
AMBIENT_OCCLUSION	Ambient occlusion effect for 3D geometries (extruded buildings and landmarks).	Yes	Yes
BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS	The 2D footprint of buildings.	Yes	Yes
CONGESTION_ZONES	City areas designated as congestion zones (or congestion charge zones), which impose fees on entering such areas.	Yes	Yes
CONTOURS	Show or hide contour lines on the map to represent elevation changes.	No	Yes
ENVIRONMENTAL_ZONES	City areas designated as environmental zones, which empose limitations on the type of vehicles that are allowed to enter such areas.	Yes	Yes
EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS	Simple 3D representation of buildings.	Yes	Yes
LANDMARKS	3D landmarks.	No	Yes
LOW_SPEED_ZONES	City areas designated as low speed zones.	Yes	Yes
PUBLIC_TRANSIT	Toggles the display of public transit lines for systems like subway, tram, train, monorail, and ferry, based on the selected mode.	No	Yes
ROAD_EXIT_LABELS	Show or hide road exit labels, if available.	Yes	Yes
SAFETY_CAMERAS	Safety and speed cameras.	No	Yes
SHADOWS	Shadows for all building types (extruded buildings and landmarks).	Yes	Yes
TERRAIN	Show elevation topography.	No	Yes
TRAFFIC_FLOW	Traffic flow speed.	Yes	Yes
TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS	Traffic incidents.	Yes	Yes
VEHICLE_RESTRICTIONS	Vehicle restrictions.	No	Yes
TRAFFIC_LIGHTS	Traffic lights.	Yes	Yes

Below you can see how the map feature layers can be enabled:

Map<String, String> mapFeatures = new HashMap<>();
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS, MapFeatureModes.BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.CONTOURS, MapFeatureModes.CONTOURS_ALL);  // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.CONGESTION_ZONES, MapFeatureModes.CONGESTION_ZONES_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.ENVIRONMENTAL_ZONES, MapFeatureModes.ENVIRONMENTAL_ZONES_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS, MapFeatureModes.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.LANDMARKS, MapFeatureModes.LANDMARKS_TEXTURED); // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.ROAD_EXIT_LABELS, MapFeatureModes.ROAD_EXIT_LABELS_ALL); // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.SAFETY_CAMERAS, MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.SHADOWS, MapFeatureModes.SHADOWS_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.TERRAIN, MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT); // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_FLOW, MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS, MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.LOW_SPEED_ZONES, MapFeatureModes.LOW_SPEED_ZONES_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.VEHICLE_RESTRICTIONS, MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT); // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION, MapFeatureModes.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION_ALL);
mapFeatures.put(MapFeatures.PUBLIC_TRANSIT, MapFeatureModes.PUBLIC_TRANSIT_ALL); // Only available with the Navigate license.
mapView.getMapScene().enableFeatures(mapFeatures);

val mapFeatures: MutableMap<String, String> = HashMap()
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS] = MapFeatureModes.BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.CONTOURS] = MapFeatureModes.CONTOURS_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.CONGESTION_ZONES] = MapFeatureModes.CONGESTION_ZONES_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.ENVIRONMENTAL_ZONES] = MapFeatureModes.ENVIRONMENTAL_ZONES_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS] = MapFeatureModes.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.LANDMARKS] = MapFeatureModes.LANDMARKS_TEXTURED
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.ROAD_EXIT_LABELS] = MapFeatureModes.ROAD_EXIT_LABELS_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.SAFETY_CAMERAS] = MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.SHADOWS] = MapFeatureModes.SHADOWS_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.TERRAIN] = MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_FLOW] = MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS] = MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.LOW_SPEED_ZONES] = MapFeatureModes.LOW_SPEED_ZONES_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.VEHICLE_RESTRICTIONS] = MapFeatureModes.DEFAULT
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION] = MapFeatureModes.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION_ALL
mapFeatures[MapFeatures.PUBLIC_TRANSIT] = MapFeatureModes.PUBLIC_TRANSIT_ALL
mapView!!.mapScene.enableFeatures(mapFeatures)

Note

When a new map scene is loaded (for example, when switching between different map schemes), all previously configured map features are reset to their default state. You must re-enable your desired map features after each scene load operation.

Setting a new layer state is performed synchronously, but it requires a valid map scene that must have been loaded before. Also, setting a new feature state while a new map scene is being loaded, may result in an exception.

Similarly, you can also disable a list of layers like shown below:

List<String> mapFeatures = new ArrayList<>();
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_FLOW);
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS);
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS);
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION);
mapView.getMapScene().disableFeatures(mapFeatures);

val mapFeatures: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_FLOW)
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS)
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS)
mapFeatures.add(MapFeatures.AMBIENT_OCCLUSION)
mapView!!.mapScene.disableFeatures(mapFeatures)

Note

When TRAFFIC_FLOW and TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS features are enabled, then the HERE SDK will request new traffic information for each new vector tile - for example, by panning the viewport or zooming. This may lead to an increase of costs, depending on your plan. With MapContentSettings the traffic flow and incident refresh period can be adjusted, but this can be overwritten by viewport changes. During turn-by-turn navigation, this can happen multiple times per second and may result in a high number of Traffic Vector Tile requests. As an alternative, consider using TrafficOnRoute to update only the traffic visualization along the route itself.

Each map feature supports one or more alternative rendering options. With the Navigate license for example, instead of using TERRAIN_HILLSHADE, which is the default mode for TERRAIN, you can use TERRAIN_3D to show advanced topographical shading for hills on a true 3D terrain map view.

Below you can see screenshots for all map layers supported by the HERE SDK - note that not all feature layers are available for all licenses:

Some layers allow to filter the shown content via MapContentSettings:

MapFeatures.TRAFFIC_INCIDENTS: Use filterTrafficIncidents(List<TrafficIncidentType> trafficIncidents) to filter the displayed traffic incidents.
MapFeatures.VEHICLE_RESTRICTIONS: Use configureVehicleRestrictionFilter(TransportMode transportMode, TruckSpecifications truckSpecifications, List<HazardousMaterial> hazardousMaterials, TunnelCategory tunnelCategory) to filter the displayed truck restrictions.

The map layers BUILDING_FOOTPRINTS & EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS are enabled by default on the MapView.

Beta Release: we now also support MapFeatureModes.TERRAIN_3D with day, night, hybrid day and hybrid night map schemes (only available with the Navigate license).

Extruded buildings coverage

When the MapFeatures.EXTRUDED_BUILDINGS feature is enabled, buildings will be rendered in 3D with an outline. The appearance of the buildings may vary by country. For example, in Japan, the outlines are combined sometimes with colored building walls.

By default, extruded buildings are supported for most countries.

Note that the enriched Japan map requires a separate contract with HERE.

Try the MapFeatures example app

Most of the code snippets mentioned above are available in our "MapFeatures" example app, provided in both Java and Kotlin. You can find this example app on GitHub for your preferred platform.