We live in a digital-first world where convenience is everything. When it comes to location details, users expect instant access to details such as opening hours, ratings, and photos, all without leaving the app or page they’re on. Developers, however, face a challenge: how to meet these expectations without building complex interfaces from scratch and incurring high API costs?
The answer to this problem is a new solution from Google – the UI Kit, a set of ready-made components that simplifies the presentation of location data and significantly accelerates the implementation process.
In this article, you will learn:
What is Google Maps Places UI Kit?
Google Maps Places UI Kit is a set of ready-made front-end components that make it easy to quickly display location information on a map. With the Google Maps Places UI Kit, developers don’t have to design the interface from scratch. Instead, they can focus on application functionality and faster time-to-market.
Google Maps Places UI Kit in action
Imagine a company developing a travel app. The app is designed to show travelers the best nearby restaurants, attractions, and hotels. The problem? Building the interface from scratch means months of work and high costs.
With Places UI Kit, just a few lines of code are enough for the app to display ready-made place cards matching the company’s branding. The result? Shorter implementation time, lower costs, and satisfied users.
What components make up Google Maps Places UI Kit?
The service is being developed in stages and includes:
- Place Details – used to display detailed information about a specific place, e.g., address, rating, opening hours, and photos. (already available),
- Place Search – used to search for places based on keywords or the user’s location (experimental version),
- Basic Place Autocomplete – automatically suggests place names to users as they type into the search field (planned feature),
- Elevation – returns elevation data as a numerical value for a specific point or route. The experimental version is currently available.
Google Maps Places UI Kit – discover the key benefits
Reliable location data
With the Places UI Kit, you gain access to information about 250 million places from Google’s database.
Fast implementation
Places UI Kit is a low-code solution. This means that implementing location information literally takes just a few lines of code.
Flexibility
It works not only with Google Maps but also with Mapbox, Leaflet, and custom map layers.
Multi-platform availability
Google provides SDKs for JavaScript, Android, and iOS, allowing you to deploy the solution across various platforms.
Easy customization
It allows for quick adjustment of colors, layout, and visibility of elements (such as ratings, photos, and opening hours) to match your company’s visual identity.
Consistent UX
The solution ensures a uniform look and feel across JavaScript, Android, and iOS applications.
Who is Google Maps Places UI Kit for?
The new service works perfectly for applications and portals where it is important to present location information in an attractive and consistent way, such as:
Real estate portals
e.g., for displaying property locations.
Travel apps
for presenting information about hotels, tourist attractions, or restaurants.
Directories of local businesses and services
e.g., beauty salons, car repair shops, or electric vehicle charging stations.
Google Maps Places API vs. Google Maps Places UI Kit – which to choose?
Places UI Kit is not the only solution in Google’s portfolio that can be used to build tools providing location information. There is also the Places API.
This raises the question – which one should you choose?
Should you rely on the traditional Places API, or start using the new Places UI Kit? The answer depends on the needs of your project.
| When to choose Places UI Kit | When to choose Places API |
| When implementation speed is crucial – you want to display place data quickly and with minimal effort. | When you want full control over the user interface and prefer to design the app layout yourself. |
| If you don’t want to build the UI from scratch, lack the technical expertise, or prefer to use ready-made, proven components. | If your application requires a custom user interface and unique business scenarios, e.g., integration with internal systems. |
| When you want to ensure consistent user experience across environments (JavaScript, Android, iOS). | In projects where the team has strong front-end skills and a sufficient development budget. |
To sum up, Places API offers full flexibility but involves higher costs and longer development times. Places UI Kit, on the other hand, provides faster implementation, lower costs, and a consistent user experience.