Google Places API and Swift

In case

MKLocalSearchRequest.naturalLanguageQuery 

isn’t meeting your nearby search needs, you may look at using other web services.

One option is the Google Places web service.

I wrote a GooglePlaces class that takes three input arguments (location, radius, and query) and returns an array of MKMapItems.

Two search functions are implemented, one with a callback, and one using delegation.

The examples below show how to search for coffee within 2000 meters of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA.

Google Places search with callback

var location = CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 47.620506, longitude: -122.349277)
var gp = GooglePlaces()
gp.search(location, radius: 2000, query: "coffee") { (items, errorDescription) -> Void in

  println("Result count: \(items!.count)")
    for index in 0..<items!.count {
      println([items![index].name])
    }
}

Google Places search with delegate

var location = CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 47.620506, longitude: -122.349277)
var gp = GooglePlaces()
gp.delegate = self

gp.searchWithDelegate(location, radius: 2000, query: "coffee")

Implement the delegate to process the result set

func googlePlacesSearchResult(items : [MKMapItem]) {
  println("Result count: \(items!.count)")
    for index in 0..<items!.count {
      println([items![index].name])
    }
}

Easy!

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Check out more resources on Kirby’s blog, Swift Coder.