How to get multiple placemarks from CLGeocoder

Question

Whatever address i give to the geocoder ([geocoder geocodeAddressString:completionHandler:), it always puts only one object in the placemarks array.

I there any way to get multiple results (like in Maps app) from which the user can select one?

Answer 1

I've done some sniffing on the packets and it seems that CLGeocoder doesn't connect to Google's geocoding service, but to Apple's. I've also noticed that I get only one placemark from there every time.

If you want something more sophisticated you should use Google's or other geocoding. I use SVGeocoder (https://github.com/samvermette/SVGeocoder), which has a very similar API to CLGeocoder.

Answer 2

Apple's native geocoding service is provided by the MapKit framework. The important object in this framework is MKLocalSearch, which can geocode addresses and return multiple results.

MKLocalSearch returns back 10 results in mapItems of type MKMapItem. Each MKMapItem contains a MKPlacemark object, which is a subclass of CLPlacemark.

Here's an example using MapKit's MKLocalSearch:

MKLocalSearchRequest* request = [[MKLocalSearchRequest alloc] init];
request.naturalLanguageQuery = @"Calgary Tower";
request.region = MKCoordinateRegionMakeWithDistance(loc, kSearchMapBoundingBoxDistanceInMetres, kSearchMapBoundingBoxDistanceInMetres);

MKLocalSearch* search = [[MKLocalSearch alloc] initWithRequest:request];
[search startWithCompletionHandler:^(MKLocalSearchResponse *response, NSError *error) {
   yourArray = response.mapItems; // array of MKMapItems
   // .. do you other logic here  
 }];