FAQ

Have a question? You've come to the right place

We've done our best to compile a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions.
They are broken up by category and listed below.

10 Most Asked Questions

How do I know whether to use a User Token or an API Key to authenticate

If you are using a CloudMade library or SDK like Web Maps API or the iPhone SDK, authentication is handled automatically. You just pass your API key to the library or SDK and it does the rest. If you are using Specialist Tools with a third party library like Route-Me to access CloudMade’s services directly via HTTP, you need to pass an API key and a token with each Tile, Geocoding, Route or other request you pass to the server. You can read more about User Tokens.

What is CloudMade Select?

CloudMade Select is a version of the CloudMade Maps APIs intended for developers with one or more of the following requirements:

Service level agreements and uptime guarantees
Technical support via email with CloudMade support engineers
Placing third party advertising into applications built using CloudMade Maps APIs
Full control including the ability to turn off CloudMade advertising.

What are CloudMade’s Specialist Tools?

Specialist Tools are a collection of APIs that give you direct HTTP access to the core services that CloudMade’s APIs and SDKs are built on. If you want to develop an app that pushes the boundaries of our existing libraries and SDKs, or if you are building for a platform that we do not currently support, the Specialist Tools are for you.

How much does it cost to use CloudMade’s iPhone SDK?

It’s Free! What’s more, we give you the opportunity to make money by adding CloudMade’s maps and services to your applications through location based advertising. Our location based advertising systems are currently live – you can apply to it here.

When do you update your downloads?

We update our downloads on a monthly basis based from OpenStreetMap data. Our downloads pages always state the date of the OpenStreetMap data that was used to create the downloads.

Can I add offline maps to my CloudMade iPhone or mobile applications?

CloudMade’s iPhone SDK and our Mobile SDKs do not have built-in support for offline maps. To add offline maps to an application you need to implement your own storage system and your own method to retrieve and display the map tiles from the device. You can find some tips about how to do this on the iPhone at the iPhone SDK Forum. We will add full offline support for our SDKs later.

Can I draw polygons and polylines using CloudMade’s iPhone SDK?

This forum thread has some useful tips about drawing polygons and polylines using the iPhone SDK.

How can I create a custom map style?

CloudMade’s Style Editor lets you choose from thousands from community created map styles, or create your own unique style. Get started with Style Editor today

Is anyone allowed to sell and make money from OpenStreetMap?

All of the data in OpenStreetMap is licensed for use by the individual contributors under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.0 License. The terms of the license allow anyone to re-use the data in any way, so long as they give appropriate attribution. This includes the right to re-sell the data, so yes, anyone can make money from OpenStreetMap.

How does CloudMade authenticate clients?

There are two ways for clients to authenticate to CloudMade – API Key and Token based. API Key based authentication can only be used with Web Maps Studio and with our Specialist Tools when they are used from a web or desktop environment. Token based authentication is used with the CloudMade iPhone SDK other mobile SDKs and any other mobile application.

Still looking for an answer?

If you have a question that is not listed here or need further assistance,
please, contact us via e-mail: support@cloudmade.com