Place Icons

Select platform: Android iOS JavaScript Web Service

Place icons indicate the various types of places (for example coffee shops, libraries, and museums). You can request URLs for icons in PNG format, as well as the corresponding icon background color, with Current Place, and Place Details requests.

To request an icon image and background color for a place, include the following fields in your request:

  • GMSPlaceFieldIconImageURL
  • GMSPlaceFieldIconBackgroundColor

The following examples demonstrate using the icon image and background color from a Current Place or Place Details request:

Places Swift SDK for iOS

// Initialize Places Swift client
let placesClient = PlacesClient.shared
      
// A hotel in Saigon with an attribution.
let placeID = "ChIJV4k8_9UodTERU5KXbkYpSYs"

// Specify the place data types to return.
let fetchPlaceRequest = FetchPlaceRequest(
  placeID: placeID,
  placeProperties: [.displayName, .iconMaskURL, .iconBackgroundColor]
)
      
Task {
      switch await placesClient.fetchPlace(with: fetchPlaceRequest) {
        case .success(let place):
        // Print displayName using String(describing:)
        print("The selected place is: \(String(describing: place.displayName))")

        // We primarily need the iconMaskURL to proceed with image loading.
        // iconBackgroundColor can be handled even if nil.
        guard let iconMaskURL = place.iconMaskURL else {
            print("Icon mask URL not available for this place. Cannot display icon.")
            return // Exit if iconMaskURL is missing
        }

        print("The icon mask URL is: \(iconMaskURL)")
        // Print iconBackgroundColor using String(describing:)
        print("The icon background color is: \(String(describing: place.iconBackgroundColor))")


        // Asynchronously load the icon image
        DispatchQueue.global().async {
            // The iconMaskURL from the new Places SDK is already a URL
            guard let imageData = try? Data(contentsOf: iconMaskURL) else {
                print("Could not download image data from URL: \(iconMaskURL)")
                return
            }

            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                guard let iconImage = UIImage(data: imageData) else {
                    print("Could not create UIImage from downloaded data.")
                    return
                }

                // --- Example of how you might use the icon and background color ---
                // Ensure you have an imageView outlet connected in your UI
                // For example:
                // @IBOutlet weak var myImageViewContainer: UIView!
                // @IBOutlet weak var myIconImageView: UIImageView!
                // For this example, we'll create them programmatically:

                let iconBackgroundView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50)) // Adjust frame as needed
                // Directly assign the optional UIColor. If nil, background will be clear.
                iconBackgroundView.backgroundColor = place.iconBackgroundColor

                let imageView = UIImageView() // Initialize an empty UIImageView
                imageView.frame = iconBackgroundView.bounds // Make icon view same size as background
                imageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit // Adjust content mode as needed

                // Tint the icon image (mask) to white
                // The icon from iconMaskURL is intended to be used as a mask.
                let templateImage = iconImage.withRenderingMode(.alwaysTemplate)
                imageView.image = templateImage
                imageView.tintColor = UIColor.white

                // Add the image view on top of the background view
                iconBackgroundView.addSubview(imageView)
        }
      }
  }
}

Swift

// Icon image URL
let url = URL(string: place.iconImageUrl)
DispatchQueue.global().async {
    guard let url = url,
        let imageData = try? Data(contentsOf: url) else {
      print("Could not get image")
      return
    }
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
      let iconImage = UIImage(data: iconImageData)

      // Icon image background color
      let iconBackgroundView = UIView(frame: .zero)
      iconBackgroundView.backgroundColor = place.iconBackgroundColor

      // Change icon image color to white
      let templateImage = iconImage.imageWithRenderingMode(UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysTemplate)
      imageView.image = templateImage
      imageView.tintColor = UIColor.white
    }
}

Objective-C

GMSPlace *place;

dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), ^{
  // Icon image URL
  NSData * iconImageData = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL: [NSURL URLWithString: place.iconImageUrl]];
      if (!iconImageData)
          return;
      dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
        UIImage *iconImage = [UIImage imageWithData:iconImageData];

        // Icon image background color
        UIView *iconBackgroundView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
        [iconBackgroundView setBackgroundColor:place.iconBackgroundColor];

        // Change icon image color to white
        iconImage = [iconImage imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysTemplate];
        [imageView setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];
      });
});

Fields

Each Place icon contains these fields:

  • iconImageUrl returns the base URL for a non-colored PNG icon.
  • iconBackgroundColor returns the default UIExtendedSRGBColorSpace color code for the place's category.

Place icon and background color requests

The following tables show all of the available place icons by category. By default these display with a black glyph. The icon background color is dictated by the place's category.

Place category: Food and drink
(icon background color #FF9E67)
Bar
Bar,
Night club 		Cafe
Cafe 		Restaurant
Restaurant, Bakery
Place category: Retail
(icon background color #4B96F3)
Bookstore
Books, Clothing, Electronics, Jewelry, Shoes,
Shopping center/Mall 		Convenience store
Convenience store 		Grocery
Grocery, Supermarket 		Pharmacy
Pharmacy
Place category: Services
(icon background color #909CE1)
ATM
ATM 		Bank
Bank 		Gas
Gas 		Lodging
Lodging
Post office
Post office
Place category: Entertainment
(icon background color #13B5C7)
Aquarium, Tourist
Aquarium, Tourist 		Golf
Golf 		Historic
Historic 		Movie
Movie
Museum
Museum 		Theater
Theater
Place category: Transportation
(icon background color #10BDFF)
Airport
Airport 		Bus
Bus, rideshare, taxi 		Train/Rail
Train/Rail
Place category: Municipal/generic/religious
(icon background color #7B9EB0)
Cemetery
Cemetery 		Civic building
Civic building 		Library
Library 		Monument
Monument
Parking
Parking 		School (primary, secondary, university)
School (primary, secondary, university) 		Worship (Christian)
Worship (Christian)
Worship (Hindu)
Worship (Hindu) 		Worship (Islam)
Worship (Islam) 		Worship (Jain)
Worship (Jain) 		Worship (Jewish)
Worship (Jewish)
Worship (Sikh)
Worship (Sikh) 		Generic business
Generic business
Place category: Outdoor
(icon background color #4DB546)
Boating
Boating 		Camping
Camping 		Park
Park 		Stadium
Stadium
Zoo
Zoo
Place category: Emergency
(icon background color #F88181)
Hospital
Hospital 		Police
Police