At WWDC 2019, Apple announced Maps Web Snapshots for creating a static map from a URL.

• Documentation at developer.apple.com/documentation/snapshots
• Maps Snapshot Studio from Apple — maps.developer.apple.com/snapshot
• Web service endpoint and notes on the query parameters — developer.apple.com/documentation/snapshots/create_a_maps_web_snapshot
• Developer Forum with the tag: Maps Web Snapshots
  • Forum thread on Image annotations larger than 50px
• Announcement from the Apple Developer Forums (around WWDC 2020):
  • Now Available: Image Annotations on Maps Web Snapshots

Update your credentials in config.json then install and run.

# config.json
#   Do not commit your secrets
{
  "teamId":             "XXXXXXXXXX",
  "keyId":              "YYYYYYYYYY"
  "privateKey": "AuthKey_YYYYYYYYYY.p8",
}

# install
npm install

# run and inspect output
mapkit-snapshots.js null-island.geojson -c config.json

Online help is available by supplying no parameters.

mapkit-snapshots.js

Usage:
  mapkit-snapshots.js <file.geojson> -c config.json     # -c pass in privateKey, teamId, keyId
  mapkit-snapshots.js <file.geojson> -c config.json -o  # -o opens in default browser

Generate a URL to display a map from a Apple Maps Web Snapshot.

Find the source code at roblabs/apple-maps-web-snapshot-cli

See the sample GeoJSON, null-island.geojson for example valid properties

"properties": {
  "center": [20, 20],
  "display_point": {
    "type": "Point","coordinates": [10,10]
  },
  "z": 2,
  "spn": [1.0, 1.0],
  "size": [600, 400],
  "scale": 1,
  "t": "mutedStandard",
  "colorScheme": "dark",
  "poi": 1,
  "lang": "en-US",
  "annotations": [],
  "overlays": [],
  "referer": "",
  "expires": 3155673601
}

This repo shows working samples of Maps Web Snapshots and Node JS sample code for generating the proper URLs to use in your applications.

Snapshot Parameters or Documenation from Create a Maps Web Snapshot	Parameter examples
center - The center of the map. You can specify center as coordinates or as an address.
	signIt("center=0,0")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California")
size & scale - size - The width and height must be within the range of [50, 640]. Default: 600x400. scale - The pixel density of the image. scale=2 returns an image intended for 2× Retina displays.
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&scale=1")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&scale=2")
t - The map type. Possible values: standard, hybrid, satellite, mutedStandard
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&t=standard")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&t=hybrid")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&t=satellite")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&t=mutedStandard")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=standard")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=hybrid")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=satellite")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=mutedStandard")
colorScheme - The color scheme of the map. Possible values: light, dark. The dark color scheme only applies to the standard and mutedStandard map types.
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=standard&colorScheme=light")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=standard&colorScheme=dark")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=mutedStandard&colorScheme=light")
	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&t=mutedStandard&colorScheme=dark")
z - The zoom level of the map.
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=15")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=14")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=13")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=12")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=11")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=10")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=9")
poi - A Boolean value indicating whether points of interest are shown on the map.
	signIt("center=San%20Francisco,%20California&t=mutedStandard&poi=0")
	signIt("center=San%20Francisco,%20California&t=mutedStandard&poi=1")
lang - The language to be used for labels on the map, Supported values are in locale IDs, such as en-GB or es-MX.
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=ar-AR")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=de-DE")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=en-US")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=es-MX")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=es-ES")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=el-GR")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=fi-FI")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=fr-FR")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=ja-JA")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=hu-HU")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=it-IT")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=ko-KO")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=nl-NL")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=no-NO")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=he-HE")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=hi-IN")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=pt-BR")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=ru-RU")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=tr-TR")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=vi-VI")
	signIt("center=37.839622,-119.515182&z=3&lang=zh-ZH")
annotations - Example of Annotations . The array of JSON Annotation, which draws 3 points: a red dot, a green balloon, & blue large annotations, is shown [{"point":"32.73,-117.19", "color":"blue", "glyphText":"A", "markerStyle":"large"}, {"point":"32.71,-117.17", "color":"00ff00","glyphText":"9", "markerStyle":"balloon"}, {"point":"32.69,-117.16", "color":"red", "glyphText":"a", "markerStyle":"dot"} ]
Live example of Annotations	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&<urlEncoded Annotations>")
overlays - Example of Overlays. The array of JSON Overlay objects, which draws a red dashed line over 3 points, is shown: [{"points":["32.73,-117.19","32.71,-117.17","32.69,-117.16"], "strokeColor":"ff0000","lineWidth":2,"lineDash":[10,5]} ]
Live example of Overlays	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&<urlEncoded Overlay>")
Live example of Annotations & Overlays, together	signIt("center=San%20Diego,%20California&<urlEncoded Annotation & Overlay>")

• Dec 30, 2021 - Add output key url to log the signed Apple Maps Web Snapshot URL
• Nov 04, 2021 - Add command line options: -c for credentials. -o to open in browser.
• Mar 09, 2020 - Pass in values from GeoJSON. Pass in credentials via config.json.
• Nov 04, 2019 - Update Javascript example for Annotations & Overlays.
• Nov 03, 2019 - Initial Sample Code for Maps Web Snapshots with MapKit JS