September 2024 Platform Release Notes

IMPORTANT DEPRECATION INFORMATION

Vector Tile API's "roads" layer

Last year, HERE introduced a new "advanced_roads" layer in the Vector Tile API, which, compared to the base "roads" layer, includes an extended set of properties for heavy goods vehicles (HGV, such as trucks) and new properties for truck toll roads (toll_hgv). During the year we have continued to enhance the advanced_roads layer by adding additional cases for hgv properties.

Today we are announcing that the following hgv properties in the "roads" layer are being deprecated and will be removed on March 31, 2025:

hgv
hgv_restriction
hgv_restriction_shield_text
hgv_time_restrictions
hgv_direction
hgv_road_kind
hgv_road_kind_detail

If you are still using any of the hgv properties and would like to get the full set, please update your application to request the "advanced_roads" layer by specifying an additional query parameter in the Vector Tile API request:

_content=default,advanced_roads_

More information is available in the Developer's Guide.
Service requests with the inclusion of the "advanced_pois" layer are charged at the Advanced Vector Tile rate.
If you have further questions, please reach out to your Account Executive.

Vector Tile API's "pois" layer in Japan map

Last year, HERE introduced a new "advanced_pois" layer in the Vector Tile API that includes both base and additional advanced set of POI Categories related to Transportation and EV charging locations.

Compared to the international offering, these additional POI categories are also included in the base "pois" layer of Japan map.

To be consistent with the international layer structure, we are announcing today the deprecation of the following 18 POI categories in the "pois" layer of Japan Map. They will be removed on March 31, 2025:

tollbooth
weigh station
cargo center
rail yard
seaport or harbour
airport cargo
cargo transportation
delivery entrance
loading dock
loading zone
electric vehicle (EV) charging station
electric vehicle (EV) battery swap station
truck repair
truck and semi-truck dealer or services
truck dealership
truck parking
truck stop or plaza
truck wash

If you are still using one of these, please update your application to request the "advanced_pois" layer by specifying an additional query parameter in the Vector Tile API request:

_content=default,advanced_pois_

In addition

The WebGL engine within Maps API for JavaScript is providing a style 'vector.normal.truck'. This style is making use of the hgv properties mentioned above which will be deprecated and removed from the roads layer in Vector Tile API. As a consequence this style will stop working after the removal.

Please switch to the HARP engine (see Migrate to the HARP engine) and make use of the logistics base map style and the feature & modes capabilities.

HERE SDK

HERE SDK 4.19.4.0 & 4.19.5.0 for iOS, Android and Flutter is a minor release for the 4.19 code line with a lot of bug fixes and improvements based on customer feedback. We also added some new features for this release, for example

Map view:
- Added 'MapScheme.TOPO_DAY' and 'MapScheme.TOPO_NIGHT', topographic map schemes highlighting geographic features such as elevation, landforms, and natural landscapes to provide a clear representation of the terrain. Added 'MapFeatures.CONTOURS' feature and 'MapFeatureModes.CONTOURS_ALL' feature mode to visualize height lines. Take a look at the "HikingDiary" example app for a usage scenario.
- Added vehicleRestriction member to PickMapContentResult.VehicleRestrictionResult.
- Added MapContentSettings.setPoiCategoriesVisibility() and MapContentSettings.resetPoiCategoriesVisibility() to control the visibility of POI categories on the map view.
- Exposed LogControl.setCustomAppender() to enable custom log settings.
Search: Added SearchInterface, a common interface for SearchEngine and OfflineSearchEngine. This will make it easier to switch between both engines for hybrid online / offline use cases.

Take a look at the latest changelog for your edition and platform to find out more details.

HERE Routing

Summer vacation time is over now. Nevertheless, even during this time, we are happy to announce further progress on our routing offering. Please find the following updates

General routing - improved slip road usage
In specific cases of heavy traffic on highways, it could happen, that our router proposed a "short cut" via a rest area. As this is forbidden in some countries, we managed to improve this behavior now accordingly. No API call update required, this happens automatically in our backend
EV Routing - preference of charging stations with more connectors
As an EV driver, you know the problem of not knowing if a charging spot will be available in 40minutes or how long you need to wait. To increase the chances to find quickly a charging spot, HERE Routing automatically now prefers charging stations with higher connector numbers if there is no noticeable impact to the overall travel time. No API call update required, this comes automatically
Truck routing - avoid only non-vignette toll roads
Originally avoid "toll roads" is avoiding all toll roads including roads which require vignettes. There are cases in which you want to accept specific vignette roads, but no other toll roads. This can now be achieved by also specifying to avoid vignettes while defining only exceptions for the vignettes in your possession.

One reminder/repeated item from last month. As it is quite important and summer break might have hit our customers as well, let me repeat the following feature set on EV routing: As you might know, we do provide EV routing and automatically add charging stations while optimizing the overal travel time including charging time and charging preparation time. This is a very powerful own algorithm and goes beyond enriching routes with charging stations, manually you couldn't add charging stations. Now this is possible:

EV Routing - manually adding of charging stations (repeated from August newsletter)
You can now specify waypoints as charging points. This allows you to plan your own route with charging stations to your destination while keeping the consumption always in focus, but more importantly, you can now add manually charging stations as waypoints to your charge-aware route and our EV routing will take care of the required charging events prior and past your manually selected chargepoints to overall still minimize the travel time and give the EV driver an ease of mind.

The latest HERE Routing documentation including developer guide can be found here: https://www.here.com/docs/category/routing

HERE Geocoding and Search API 7.126

Two important add-ons are now available on platform for Geocoding and Search: Speed limits and EV Charge Points.

Speed limits
Accurate speed limit data is crucial for analyzing driving behavior in insurance and fleet tracking use cases. Geocoding and Search v7 simplifies the workflow by combining Reverse Geocoder and speed limit data into a single call, eliminating the need for separate requests and reducing network latency. Now, client applications can directly obtain speed limit data along with the Reverse Geocode result, streamlining the process.
- Request speed limit attributes directly from Geocoder**** or Reverse Geocoder
  - **Parameter:** _showNavAttributes=speedLimits_
    
    **Result:**
    maxSpeed: 55
    direction: "NW” (compass direction of road)
    speedUnit: "mph” (speed limit unit mph or kph, country specific)source: "posted"

Endpoints: In addition to the Reverse Geocoder endpoint, speed limits can also be retrieved via Multi-Reverse Geocoder, Forward Geocoder, Lookup.
Speed limits are not available via Batch Geocoder and speed limits are currently not available in Japan.
* Transactions and Pricing
Speed limits are subject to premium pricing. For details, contact your HERE customer representative. One transaction equals one request if the request returns at least one speed limit result.

EV Charge Points
API access to HERE’s EV Charge Point data is now realized via the Geocoding and Search API v7. The API provides access to extended EV Charge Points data, which requires an additional license. This includes information of connectors, access type and real-time availability
- “show=ev” needs to be added to a request to see extended EV data. The extended EV data returned by GS7 includes:
  Detailed information about the connectors.
  The access type of the charging station, which is either “public”, or “restricted”.
  - “public” means that the station
    is accessible to everyone.
  - “restricted” means that access might be restricted in some way, e.g., to customers
    or employees, or for a specific brand.
  The extended EV data returned by GS7 also includes availability information on charging stations. Stations can be marked as “AVAILABLE”, “OCCUPIED”, “RESERVED”, “UNAVAILABLE”, “OUT_OF_SERVICE”, “OFFLINE” and “UNKNOWN”.
- Mobility Service Providers are also returned if requested. “show=eMobilityServiceProviders” needs to be added.
  It informs users about the charge cards that can be used at the charging station. Besides a human-readable name a unique partner identifier is given for each Mobility Service Provider.

Usage Alert

We are thrilled to announce the news about the Usage Alerts general availability launch.
This capability will enable the customers to receive alerts based on their service usage. Users can establish Usage Alert rules through the API, specifying query conditions, thresholds, and corresponding actions. Upon the occurrence of a usage event in a realm, the system evaluates all Usage Alert rules associated with that realm. Once the usage meets the specified threshold for any rule, the defined notification in that rule is executed.

The capability is offered to HERE Resellers/Partners and direct customers on an Enterprise plan.

Take a look at the documentation to find out more details.