How to use Amazon Location Service - Amazon Location Service

How to use Amazon Location Service

You can use Amazon Location Service capabilities to complete geographic and location-related tasks. You can then combine these tasks to address more complex uses cases such as geomarketing, delivery, and asset tracking.

When you're ready to build location features into your application, use the following methods to use the Amazon Location Service functionality, depending on your goals and inclinations:

  • Exploration tools – If you want to experiment with Amazon Location resources, the following tools are the fastest way to access and try out the APIs:

    • The Amazon Location console provides a variety of quick-access tools. You can create and manage your resources and try the APIs using the Explore page. The console is also useful for creating resources (typically a one-time task) in preparation for using any of the other methods described later.

    • The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) lets you create resources and access the Amazon Location APIs using a terminal. The AWS CLI handles authentication when you configure it with your credentials.

    • You can see code examples and tutorials that show how to perform tasks using the Amazon Location Service APIs. This includes an example that mimics much of the functionality of the Explore page in the console.

  • Platform SDKs – If you aren't visualizing data on a map, you can use any of the AWS standard tools to build on AWS.

    • The following SDKs are available: C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, .NET, Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby.

  • Frontend SDKs and libraries – If you want to use Amazon Location to build an application on a mobile platform or visualize data on a map on any platform, you have the following options:

    • The AWS Amplify libraries integrate Amazon Location within iOS, Android, and JavaScript web applications.

    • The MapLibre libraries let you render client-side maps into iOS, Android, and JavaScript web applications using Amazon Location.

    • Tangram ES libraries enable you to render 2D and 3D maps from vector data using OpenGL ES within iOS and Android web applications. There is also Tangram for JavaScript web applications.

  • Sending direct HTTPS requests – If you are working with a programming language for which there is no SDK available, or if you want more control over how you send a request to AWS, you can access Amazon Location by sending direct HTTPS requests authenticated by the Signature Version 4 signing process. For more information on the Signature Version 4 signing process, see the AWS General Reference.

This chapter describes many of the tasks that are common to applications using location data. The common use cases section describes how to combine these with other AWS services to achieve more complex use cases.

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