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

A map style is a set of visual customizations to map features
that you associate with a map ID. You then reference the
map ID in your application code to display the customized map.

You can create a map style before you have a map ID; however, to use
the style, you must associate the style with a map ID. To use a map style,
you must take all of these steps:

1. **Create and publish a map Style** . For details, see
   [Create a style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#create-style) and [Publish a style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#publish-style).

2. **Create a map ID** . For details, see
   [Create a map ID](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/map-ids/get-map-id.md.txt).

3. **Associate the map style with a map ID** . For details, see
   [Associate a map ID to a map style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#associate-style-with-map-id).

4. **Add the map ID to your app** to display your style. For details, see
   [Add the map ID to your map](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/map-ids/get-map-id.md.txt#add-a-map-id-to-your-app).

> [!TIP]
> **Tip**: Once the map ID is in your application code, you can change the map style without any changes in your application code, and your end users don't have to upgrade to see updated map styles. Instead, you edit the map style associated with the map ID, and changes show up in your application maps.

This document describes how to create, edit, and publish map styles and how to
associate them to a map ID.

## Create a map style

Create a map style using one of these methods:

- [Create](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#create-new-style) a new style using the default Google map style.

- [Copy](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#copy-style) and modify an existing customized style.

- [Import a JSON map style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/json.md.txt#json-import) to use as a customized style.

### Create a new style

1. In the Google Cloud console,
   go to [**Map Styles**](https://console.cloud.google.com/google/maps-apis/studio/styles), and select a project, if needed.

2. In **Map styles** , click **Create style**.

3. In the dialog, under the **Google styles** tab, select a mode.

   - **Light** creates a light themed style, ideal for bright or outdoor environments.
   - **Dark** creates a dark themed style, ideal for low light environments.

   For more information about light and dark mode styles, see [Learn about modes and map types](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/modes-and-types.md.txt).
4. (Optional) To apply a theme variation to your map style, under **Optional theme**, select one of the following:

   - **Monochrome**: Creates a grayscale version of the map style.
   - **Ambient**: Creates a muted version of the map style. This option is only available if your project has the Navigation SDK enabled.

   Alternatively, you can click the **JSON** tab to [import a JSON map style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/json.md.txt#json-import).

   ![Blue dot and blue circle that indicate a custom style and the parent style](https://developers.google.com/static/maps/images/cloud-customization/customized-style-and-parent.png)
5. Select **Customize** to create a new untitled style.

6. Select map features and change their style to create the map style you want.

   Map features with custom styles have a solid blue dot next to them. If you
   customize a child style, the parent style displays a blue circle. For more
   information on map style hierarchy, see
   [Understand map style inheritance and hierarchy](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-hier.md.txt).

   > [!NOTE]
   > **Note:** Not all styles appear at all zoom levels. For more information, see [Style zoom levels](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/zoom-levels.md.txt).

7. Click **Save**.

8. In the **Save and publish map style** box, enter a name for your style and
   optionally a description, and click **Save**.

The style is automatically published, and you see the style details page for
your new style.

> [!CAUTION]
> **Caution:** Making style changes but not explicitly saving them creates **Unsaved Changes** in your map style's version history. These versions are lost when you close the browser tab or when your Cloud console session ends.

### Copy a style

1. Go to [**Map Styles**](https://console.cloud.google.com/google/maps-apis/studio/styles), and select a project, if needed.

2. Select one of your existing styles.

3. On the style page, click **Make a copy**.

4. In the **Make a copy** dialog, enter a new map style name and optionally
   a description.

5. (Optional) To create the complementary light or dark mode
   version of the copied style, select the checkbox in the **Style mode
   options** section.

6. Click **Save**.

   The style is automatically published, and you can see your new style's
   main page. Associate it with a map ID to use it for your maps. For details,
   see [Associate a map ID to a map style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#associate-style-with-map-id).
7. If you want to modify the style, click **Customize** , make changes,
   and click **Save**.

## Publish a style

When you first create a new map style, that first instance of
the new map style is automatically published. After that, you save changes
as a draft and when you're happy with the changes, you must publish.

1. Make the changes to the map style or duplicated map style. For details, see
   [Change a style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#update-style).

2. Click **Save** to save changes as a draft.

3. When you're ready to publish and have your changes go live for any map IDs
   using that map style, click **Publish**.

### Published versus Draft map styles

**Published**: A published map style is live. Any maps that use the map style
display the published version of it.

> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** Style changes can take a few hours to propagate to your apps websites, and apps can take longer if the devices aren't connected to the internet. If you're still not seeing your style changes after a few hours, see [My style changes aren't updating](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/troubleshoot.md.txt#style-delay).

**Draft**: Draft versions of a map style are works in progress
and aren't displayed in maps until you publish them.

## Change a style

If you want to make changes to your map style, you can make the changes right
in the style editor. You have a couple of choices when you update a style:

- **If you want changes to go live as soon as you're ready** : Click
  **Customize** and make your changes. Click **Save** to save your
  changes as a draft, and then click **Publish** when you are ready.

- **If you want to test your changes in a test environment first** : Instead of
  making changes directly in the map style, duplicate the style first. For
  details, see [Copy a style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#copy-style) and
  [Test map style updates](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/test-style-updates.md.txt).

Once you've created a map style, you can make changes to it on the style's
detail page in any of the following ways:

- **Edit** : Click **Customize**.

- **Make a copy** : For details, see [Copy a style](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#copy-style).

- **Rename**: Rename the map style.

- **Delete**: Delete the map style.

### Use data-driven styling and datasets

In the style details page, you can enable and view layers for
[data-driven styling for boundaries](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/dds-boundaries/overview.md.txt) and
[data-driven styling for datasets](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/dds-datasets/overview.md.txt) on light mode styles.

When you link a light mode style that has data-driven styling or datasets enabled
to a [map ID](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/map-ids/mapid-over.md.txt), the enabled layers are also available for
the dark mode style.

To use data-driven styling or datasets with a dark mode style,
you must do the following in the Google Cloud console:

1. Go to **Map Styles** and either select a light mode style or
   [create one](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles.md.txt#create-style).

2. In the style details page, enable your choice of layers on the light mode
   style.

3. [Associate the light mode style to the same map
   ID](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/map-styles#associate-style-with-map-id) as the dark mode style.

## Associate your style to a map ID

Associate your style to a map ID to display your custom style on your website
and in your app. A map ID can have only one light mode style and one dark mode
style associated with it.

To change the associated styles for a map ID, do the following in the
Google Cloud console:

1. Go to **Map Management** and select a map ID.

2. In the **Map styles** section, click **Edit** for light or dark mode.

3. In the panel, select a style to associate to this map ID.

   > [!NOTE]
   > **Note:** The panel displays only styles with a light style type for light mode, and only styles with a dark style type for dark mode.

4. Click **Done**.

5. (Optional) Apply your style to different map types.

   By default, your style is applied to all the available map types (`roadmap`,
   `navigation`, `terrain`, `hybrid`, `3D roadmap`, `3D hybrid`). To apply
   your style to specific map types, click
   **Show more** and select the
   checkbox for each map type listed for both light and dark modes. To apply the
   default Google map style for that mode instead, clear the checkbox for a map
   type.

   For more information about map types, see
   [Learn about modes and map types](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/cloud-customization/modes-and-types.md.txt).
6. Click **Save** to apply all changes.

To use your cloud-based map style,
[add the map ID to your app](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android-sdk/map-ids/get-map-id.md.txt#add-a-map-id-to-your-app).