Set Up Your Environment

Now that you have taken care of all the preliminary issues, we can start building the app. Throughout this guide, you will continously modify this project to extend its functionality to cover a number of basic features.

Create an Xcode Project​

We recommend using Xcode for following along. For this guide we will be using Xcode 26. Note that an iOS mobile device is not required, as Xcode allows the use of a simulator.

We start off by creating an Xcode project using the App template:

For the project settings, you can call it anything you like, however ensure the following settings are set to follow along easier:

• Interface: Storyboard

• Language: Swift

You should now have a project folder with the following files:

Installing the MapsIndoors SDK​

MapsIndoors can be installed using Swift Package Manager or CocoaPods.

Swift Package Manager

1. Open your Xcode project or workspace, then go to File > Add Packages Dependencies....

2. In the search bar in the top right corner, enter https://github.com/MapsPeople/mapsindoors-mapbox-ios.git (to use Mapbox Maps)

   or

   https://github.com/MapsPeople/mapsindoors-googlemaps-ios.git (to use Google Maps)

3. Select the Dependency Rule you want to apply to the MapsIndoors SDK

   • A common choice for Dependency Rule is "Up to Next Major Version", specifying 4.18.0 as the minimum version. To instead install a specific version set the Dependency Rule field to "Exact Version" and insert the desired version. The latest version of the MapsIndoors SDK is 4.18.0.

4. Hit enter or Click Add Package.

5. In the new window select the MapsIndoorsMapbox or MapsIndoorsGoogleMaps library and click Add Package. Once SPM finishes installing the SDK you will see 3 new dependencies under Package Dependencies: MapsIndoors, MapsIndoorsCore, and MapsIndoorsMapbox or MapsIndoorsGoogleMaps (plus their respective dependencies).

6. Click on your project's target, scroll down to Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content and click the plus button.

7. From the list select MapsIndoorsMapbox or MapsIndoorsGoogleMaps and click add.

Now you can use start using MapsIndoors in your project by using import MapsIndoors in your source code.

If you are using Mapbox, make sure to configure your secret token in order to download the required dependencies from Mapbox when installing the Swift Package: https://docs.mapbox.com/ios/maps/guides/install/#configure-credentials

CocoaPods

CocoaPods is soon going into maintenance mode and we will stop releasing versions of the MapsIndoors SDK via CocoaPods when its repository switches to read-only on December 2, 2026. You should use Swift Package Manager instead. See Swift Package Manager for information about using MapsIndoors from Swift Package Manager.

Version 4.14.0 is the last version of the CocoaPod MapsIndoorsMapbox (which uses Mapbox Maps v10). You should update to use the CocoaPod MapsIndoorsMapbox11 as that will give you access to the latest features in MapsIndoors.

Even better: Switch to using Swift Package Manager 📦

1. Create a new Podfile in your project directory (same folder as your .xcodeproj) by running pod init <XCODEPROJECTNAME> in Terminal.

2. Add your dependecies to the Podfile as follows (replace YOUR_APPLICATION_TARGET_NAME_HERE with your actual target name),

   source 'https://github.com/CocoaPods/Specs.git'
   
   platform :ios, '16.0' # Replace 16.0 with your iOS Minimum Deployment Target
   
   target 'YOUR_APPLICATION_TARGET_NAME_HERE' do
     # Remove the comment mark to use your map specific MapsIndoors pod
     # pod 'MapsIndoorsGoogleMaps', '~> 4.18'
     # or
     # pod 'MapsIndoorsMapbox11', '~> 4.18'
   end

If you are using Mapbox, make sure to configure your secret token in order to download the required dependencies from Mapbox when running pod install: https://docs.mapbox.com/ios/maps/guides/install/#configure-credentials

If you are upgrading from a version prior to 4.6.0 you must remove the post_install script parts previously required by MapsIndoors for Google Maps.

1. Save the Podfile and close Xcode.

2. Open a terminal in the directory of the project. cd <path-to-project>

3. Run pod install in the terminal.

4. From this time onwards, use the .xcworkspace file to open the project.

This "Getting Started" guide is created using a specific version of the SDK. When moving beyond the "Getting Started" guide, please be sure to use the latest version of the SDK.

Adding API Credentials​

Open back up the project and navigate to the file AppDelegate.swift.

Mapbox

1. Add the following import statements to the top of the file:

import MapboxMaps  
import MapsIndoorsCore

1. Insert the following into the application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) method. If you are using Mapbox then provide your API Key when you add your map to the view inside viewDidLoad() in your ViewController.swift:

let initOptions = MapInitOptions()  // Set suitable options here if needed
self.mapView = MapView(frame: view.bounds, mapInitOptions: initOptions)
// Set the MPMapConfig
MPMapConfig(mapBoxView: mapView, accessToken: "YOUR_MAPBOX_API_KEY")
Task {
    await MPMapsIndoors.shared.load(apiKey:"YOUR_MAPSINDOORS_API_KEY")
}

Finally, remember to replace YOUR_MAPBOX_API_KEY with your Mapbox Access Token and YOUR_MAPSINDOORS_API_KEY with your MapsIndoors API key (or use the demo key mapspeople3d).

Google Maps

1. Add the following import statements to the top of the file:

import GoogleMaps  
import MapsIndoorsCore

1. Insert the following into the application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) method. If you are using Mapbox then provide your API Key when you add your map to the view inside viewDidLoad() in your ViewController.swift:

GMSServices.provideAPIKey("YOUR_GOOGLE_API_KEY")

Finally, remember to replace YOUR_GOOGLE_API_KEY with your Google API key.