---
title: Maps Web Snapshots
framework: Maps Web Snapshots
role: collection
role_heading: Web Service
platforms: [maps web snapshots 1.0+]
path: snapshots
---

# Maps Web Snapshots

Create a static image of a map from a URL.

## Overview

Overview Use the Maps Web Snapshots service to generate static map images from a URL. You can use Snapshots any time that an interactive map isn’t required, and in any place you typically use an image URL — in web pages, and in places where JavaScript isn’t available, such as email clients.

note: If you need an interactive map on the web, see MapKit JS. To generate static map snapshots in iOS, macOS, or tvOS apps, see MKMapSnapshotter. To learn how to construct a signed and validated snapshot URL, see Generating a URL and Signature to Create a Maps Web Snapshot. You generate the required signature using credentials obtained through your Apple Developer account. See Creating a Maps identifier and a private key to learn how to get these credentials. You can also obtain HTML to show information about a place using Create a Map. For more information on usage limits for Maps Web Snapshots, see the Apple Developer page, Maps on the Web.

## Topics

### Essentials

- [Generating a URL and Signature to Create a Maps Web Snapshot](snapshots/generating-a-url-and-signature-to-create-a-maps-web-snapshot.md)
- [Annotation](snapshots/annotation.md)
- [Overlay](snapshots/overlay.md)
- [OverlayStyle](snapshots/overlaystyle.md)
- [Image](snapshots/image.md)

### Snapshots

- [Create a Maps Web Snapshot](snapshots/get-a-map-snapshot.md)