Select platform: [Android](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the Android platform docs.") [Android 3D](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-3d/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the Android 3D platform docs.") [iOS](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/ios-sdk/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the iOS platform docs.") [iOS 3D](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-3d/ios-sdk/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the iOS 3D platform docs.") [JavaScript](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the JavaScript platform docs.") [Web Service](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt "View this page for the Web Service platform docs.")

<br />

To use cloud-based maps styling on Android, you must use the latest renderer for Maps SDK for Android. [Follow these instructions](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/renderer.md.txt).

When you customize a map style, it helps to understand how styling different map
features may affect other styles on the map. There are several layers that
overlap:

- **The base map**: When you start creating a map style, the initial
  you see is the style of the base map; that is, the default map. Any map
  features you don't customize retain the base map styling.

- **Map styles**: Custom styles override the styles on the base map layer.
  In this image, the custom map style overrides the urban areas as aqua
  and roads as dark blue.

- **Style elements**: Each map feature has one or more style elements that
  you can customize. In this image, the urban areas map feature polygon
  fill color is styled as aqua, and the road network fill color
  is styled as blue.

  ![The base map with a map style overlay on top, showing the style elements of aqua urban areas and blue road networks](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/base-map-overlay.png)

## Map feature hierarchy

Within a map style, map features are organized hierarchically, with 4 broad
map features at the top, and all other map features arranged beneath them in
a logical hierarchy. By default, a map feature inherits the element styles
for the map feature above it in the hierarchy (its parent); however, you
can override the top level style by setting one or more of the style elements
for map features underneath it (child map features). For details on the map
feature hierarchy, see [What you can style on a map](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/taxonomy.md.txt).

Each map feature has one or more elements, or parts of the map feature, that
you can style. For example, the fill color for the polygon (the map feature
shape) is an element, as is the stroke color for the text label. You style
each element separately, and any element you don't style retains the default
style. Since elements are separate, you can style the fill color for label
text, and leave the stroke (outline) color as the default (or inheriting
from a parent style).

Here are some helpful guidelines in understanding how style hierarchy and
inheritance work.

- **Default child styles inherit from the parent**: To have all
  child map features inherit a style, set the style for the parent map feature,
  and leave the child style as the default.

- **Custom child styles override the parent**: To override the parent style,
  set a custom style on the child feature.

- **Style elements are independent**: The style elements you can set for a
  map feature (for example, the polygon, the label icon, and the label text
  fill and stroke) are independent from each other. If you set the polygon
  color, but leave the icon alone, the polygon style overrides the parent
  style, but the icon inherits the parent or default style.

- **Turn off Visibility to hide map features**: If you want to see only one
  thing on your map, you have to turn off visibility for everything else.

  > [!NOTE]
  > **Note:** When you hide map features or make them semi-transparent, you may expose boundary inaccuracies. Map feature boundaries are not always precise, but are adjusted to look correct when all layers are visible. For more details, see [Manage styles that overlap](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/overlap.md.txt).

## Hierarchy and Inheritance Example

Here is an example of how inheritance and hierarchy works.

1. Select the top-level map feature of **Natural** , and set the
   **Polygon Fill color** to yellow. This styles all polygons for map
   features under **Natural** to be yellow:

   ![Map showing all Natural map features are yellow](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/1natural-yellow.png)
2. You want **Land cover** , which is under **Natural** , to also be yellow,
   so you leave it unstyled, and it inherits the style from **Natural**.

3. You want forests to be green, so under **Land cover** , you open **Forest** ,
   and color its polygon green. This custom child style overrides the
   styles for **Land cover** and **Natural**.

   ![Map showing forest map features are green](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/2forest-green.png)
4. You want ice to be shown a pale aqua, so also under **Land cover** , you
   open **Ice**, and color its polygon pale aqua.

   ![Map showing ice map features are pale aqua](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/3ice-paleaqua.png)
5. And last, you want water to be aqua, so you select **Natural\>Water** , and
   color its polygon aqua. Setting the child style **Water** overrides the parent
   style for **Natural**.

   ![Map showing water map features are aqua](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/4water-aqua.png)

Follow a similar process to highlight the map features for your needs.