By: Chloe Krawczyk
Today we’re launching new client-side cache management APIs in our Maps SDKs for Android, iOS, and Web, giving developers more control over caching. You can now implement methods that clear a user’s cached tiles on-demand, letting you determine when map data and tileset updates take effect.
When a user pans around a map, tiles are lazily stored in an ambient cache for instantaneous retrieval. Ambient caching provides optimal load time when the user revisits the map, but it also means that new map data may not show up for up to 12 hours. With our new cache management APIs, you can configure an app so the user or a remote backend system can clear cached tiles on-demand and retrieve the freshest map tiles.
On mobile, the APIs also include a method that allows you to resize the ambient cache. By default, the ambient cache in our Maps SDKs is instantiated at 50MB. Developers can now increase the cache size so that more map resources are cached and retrieved quickly. Or, developers can decrease the cache size to reduce the amount of space that map tiles use on a device.
The cache management APIs are available starting versions 8.2 of the Maps SDK for Android, 5.2 for iOS, and 1.2 for Web. Get started with the documentation on Android, iOS, and Web.
Chloe Krawczyk - Product Manager, Map Rendering - Mapbox | LinkedIn
New cache management controls for Mapbox SDKs was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.