How can I add different images instead of pins in MKMapView?

Question

I've been working on an app that has an MKMapView and I want to customize the pins with different images. I've already did that but with one image only, now I need to make a pin show an image and the other pin show another image. How can I do this? If helps, here's my code:

-(MKAnnotationView *)mapView:(MKMapView *)mV viewForAnnotation:(id <MKAnnotation>)annotation{

MKAnnotationView *pinView = nil;
if(annotation != _mapView.userLocation)
{
    static NSString *defaultPinID;
    pinView = (MKAnnotationView *)[_mapView dequeueReusableAnnotationViewWithIdentifier:defaultPinID];
    if ( pinView == nil )
        pinView = [[MKAnnotationView alloc]
                   initWithAnnotation:annotation reuseIdentifier:defaultPinID];


    pinView.canShowCallout = YES;
    pinView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"image1.jpg"];
}
else {
    [_mapView.userLocation setTitle:@"Your Location"];
}
return pinView;   }

I need the second and the third to show the same image but the first a different one It follows like this:

- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {CLLocationCoordinate2D First; First.latitude = -12.098970; First.longitude = -77.034531; MKPointAnnotation *annotationPoint = [[MKPointAnnotation alloc] init]; annotationPoint.coordinate = First; annotationPoint.title = @"First"; annotationPoint.subtitle = @"Subtitle1"; [_mapView addAnnotation:annotationPoint];

CLLocationCoordinate2D Second; Second.latitude = -12.098299; Second.longitude = -77.068364; MKPointAnnotation *annotationPoint2 = [[MKPointAnnotation alloc] init]; annotationPoint2.coordinate = Second; annotationPoint2.title = @"Second"; annotationPoint2.subtitle = @"Subtitle2"; [_mapView addAnnotation:annotationPoint2];

CLLocationCoordinate2D Third; Third.latitude = -12.125888; Third.longitude = -77.023346; MKPointAnnotation *annotationPoint3 = [[MKPointAnnotation alloc] init]; annotationPoint3.coordinate = Third; annotationPoint3.title = @"Third"; annotationPoint3.subtitle = @"Subtitle3"; [_mapView addAnnotation:annotationPoint3];}

Answer 1

Make sure you have MapKit.framework and CoreLocation.framework in your project.

My custom pin images are 39 high by 32 wide. Have not tried other sizes but feel free to experiment. My 2 pin images are called pin1.png and pin2.png

Make sure you have your images named correctly to match what is in your code.

In my example I am not using current location but rather a static custom location (thought The Bahamas would be nice for this example). In your project you would of course you the Location Manager to get a user's current location.

I have tested my example and have successfully dropped 2 pins on the map with each pin having its own custom image.

It's not the cleanest code but I only had limited time to write it.

Here is the code for ViewController.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <MapKit/MapKit.h>
#import <CoreLocation/CoreLocation.h>

@interface ViewController : UIViewController <CLLocationManagerDelegate, MKMapViewDelegate>

@end

Here is the code for ViewController.h

#import "ViewController.h"
#import "MyAnnotation.h"
#import <MapKit/MapKit.h>

@interface ViewController ()

@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet MKMapView *myMapView;

@end

@implementation ViewController


- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    // setup the map view, delegate and current location

    [self.myMapView setDelegate:self];

    self.myMapView.mapType = MKMapTypeStandard;

    CLLocationCoordinate2D myLocation = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(25.085130,-77.331428);
    [self.myMapView setCenterCoordinate:myLocation];

    MKCoordinateRegion region = MKCoordinateRegionMakeWithDistance(myLocation, 2000, 2000);
    region.center = self.myMapView.centerCoordinate;
    self.myMapView.showsUserLocation = YES;
    [self.myMapView setRegion:region animated:YES];

    [self dropPins];
}

-(void)dropPins {
    NSMutableArray *annotationArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    CLLocationCoordinate2D location1 = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(25.085130, -77.331428);
    MyAnnotation *annotation1 = [[MyAnnotation alloc] initWithCoordinates:location1 image:@"pin1.png"];
    [annotationArray addObject:annotation1];
    [self.myMapView addAnnotations:annotationArray];

    [annotationArray removeAllObjects];
    CLLocationCoordinate2D location2 = CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(25.085130, -77.336428);
    MyAnnotation *annotation2 = [[MyAnnotation alloc] initWithCoordinates:location2 image:@"pin2.png"];
    [annotationArray addObject:annotation2];
    [self.myMapView addAnnotations:annotationArray];
}

- (MKAnnotationView *)mapView:(MKMapView *)mapView viewForAnnotation:(id <MKAnnotation>)annotation {
    static NSString *identifier = @"MyLocation";
    if ([annotation isKindOfClass:[MyAnnotation class]])
    {
        MKPinAnnotationView *annotationView = (MKPinAnnotationView *)[self.myMapView dequeueReusableAnnotationViewWithIdentifier:identifier];

        if (annotationView == nil)
        {
            annotationView = [[MKPinAnnotationView alloc] initWithAnnotation:annotation reuseIdentifier:identifier];
        } else
        {
            annotationView.annotation = annotation;
        }

        annotationView.enabled = YES;
        annotationView.canShowCallout = NO;

        if([[(MyAnnotation *)annotationView.annotation image] isEqualToString:@"pin1.png"])
            annotationView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"pin1.png"];

        if([[(MyAnnotation *)annotationView.annotation image] isEqualToString:@"pin2.png"])
            annotationView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"pin2.png"];

        return annotationView;
    }
    return nil;
}

- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning {
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

@end

Here is the code for MyAnnotation.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <MapKit/MapKit.h>

@interface MyAnnotation : NSObject <MKAnnotation>

@property (nonatomic, readonly) CLLocationCoordinate2D coordinate;
@property (nonatomic, copy, readonly) NSString *image;


-(id)initWithCoordinates:(CLLocationCoordinate2D) paramCoordinates
                   image:(NSString *) paramImage;

@end

Here is the code for MyAnnotation.m

#import "MyAnnotation.h"

@implementation MyAnnotation

-(id)initWithCoordinates:(CLLocationCoordinate2D)paramCoordinates
                   image:(NSString *)paramImage
{
    self = [super init];
    if(self != nil)
    {
        _coordinate = paramCoordinates;
        _image = paramImage;
    }
    return (self);
}

@end