Simplify Place Discovery in Your App with Google’s Places UI Kit
- 28East
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Google recently announced their Places UI Kit as a low-code and budget-friendly solution to bring their location data to any map of your choice. This allows developers to integrate the details for over 250 million places into their applications.
Two additional UI Kit components, Place Search and Autocomplete, are also now generally available to build on the launch of the Place Details element. The kit is available through the Maps JavaScript API and iOS and Android SDKs.
These components give you the ability to create impactful front-end experiences using just a few lines of code. With these simple integrations, you can help users explore, discover, and find new places with ease.
Use Google Places, Even If You’re Not Using Google Maps
For the first time, Google’s UI components can be used on non-Google map backgrounds, allowing for more flexibility in how you deliver location-based experiences.
As a cost-effective solution, the UI kit helps you optimise your development budget by giving you the ability to integrate Places content without building from scratch.
Google has added advanced customisation capabilities, including full control over elements like colours, typography, and more. With the UI Kit, you can easily customise the look and feel of the components to maintain consistent branding.
From Search to Discovery
Google’s UI Kit supports complete location journeys, taking users from finding an address to exploring nearby points of interest and viewing detailed information about a selected place.
It uses existing Place IDs to integrate smoothly with your current use of other Google Maps Platform APIs.
What Does This Look Like in Practice?
The Places UI Kit has applications across industries to enable users to explore and discover more locations with confidence. To create visually immersive experiences, developers can also combine the UI Kit with Google’s Photorealistic 3D Maps to give users a real-world view of any location.
For industries like real estate and travel, it allows users to see a neighbourhood, property, or tourist destination ahead of time. This helps them make more informed decisions from the comfort of their homes, building itineraries or imagining their future with more certainty.
The Kit also has apps across industries where location context is important. For example, in messaging apps, you can integrate place search and discovery directly into the app to create more visual and engaging experiences.
Why This Matters to South African Businesses
At 28East, we support companies across logistics, e-commerce, property, and telco who need accurate, fast, and scalable mapping solutions. The Google UI kit opens opportunities for:
Faster development.
Lower cost of delivery.
Customisable UI.
Improved UX.
Get Started with Local Support
As a premier Google Maps partner based in South Africa, the 28East team can help you integrate the Places UI Kit quickly and efficiently. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help.
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