Is there an existing issue for this?
Use case
addMarker() via MapViewController only renders the default Google Maps pin regardless of what MarkerOptions is passed. There is no way to supply a custom image as the marker icon through the JS layer.
This is a blocking limitation for any app that needs to differentiate markers visually — the most common real-world case being live location sharing, where each member's marker should display their profile photo rather than an indistinguishable default pin.
Concrete scenario: In a group coordination app where 8 users share live location on the same NavigationView, all 8 markers render as identical red pins. There is no way to tell who is who without tapping each one individually. A custom avatar icon per member solves this entirely.
Alternatives considered:
Rendering an RN View as an overlay — Possible for static UI, but overlays are not anchored to map coordinates and don't move correctly with map pan/zoom/tilt. Not a real substitute for a native map marker.
react-native-maps — Supports custom marker icons but is a completely separate library. It cannot be used alongside @googlemaps/react-native-navigation-sdk on the same map surface, as both require owning the map view.
No existing package solves this within the Navigation SDK's MapViewController surface.
The underlying native SDKs fully support this — BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromBitmap() on Android and GMSMarker.icon on iOS. The gap is only in the React Native wrapper not exposing it.
Proposal
Add an optional icon field to MarkerOptions that accept a URI string pointing to a local asset or remote image, passed through the JS-to-native bridge and applied as the marker's bitmap icon on both Android and iOS.
Proposed TypeScript change:
export interface MarkerOptions {
position: LatLng;
title?: string;
snippet?: string;
isVisible?: boolean;
isFlat?: boolean;
isDraggable?: boolean;
rotation?: number;
alpha?: number;
icon?: { uri: string }; // ← proposed addition
}
Expected usage:
mapViewController.addMarker({
position: { lat: 17.385, lng: 78.4867 },
title: 'Sannihith',
icon: { uri: 'https://example.com/avatar.jpg' },
});
Android (Kotlin) — intended implementation path:
kotlinval iconUri = markerOptionsMap.getString("icon_uri")
val markerOptions = MarkerOptions()
.position(LatLng(lat, lng))
if (iconUri != null) {
val bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(
URL(iconUri).openConnection().getInputStream()
)
markerOptions.icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromBitmap(bitmap))
}
iOS (Swift) — intended implementation path:
swiftif let iconUri = options["icon_uri"] as? String,
let url = URL(string: iconUri),
let data = try? Data(contentsOf: url),
let image = UIImage(data: data) {
marker.icon = image
}
I am willing to implement the Android side and submit a PR. Happy to align on the preferred API shape before starting if maintainers have a different approach in mind.
Is there an existing issue for this?
Use case
addMarker() via MapViewController only renders the default Google Maps pin regardless of what MarkerOptions is passed. There is no way to supply a custom image as the marker icon through the JS layer.
This is a blocking limitation for any app that needs to differentiate markers visually — the most common real-world case being live location sharing, where each member's marker should display their profile photo rather than an indistinguishable default pin.
Concrete scenario: In a group coordination app where 8 users share live location on the same NavigationView, all 8 markers render as identical red pins. There is no way to tell who is who without tapping each one individually. A custom avatar icon per member solves this entirely.
Alternatives considered:
Rendering an RN View as an overlay — Possible for static UI, but overlays are not anchored to map coordinates and don't move correctly with map pan/zoom/tilt. Not a real substitute for a native map marker.
react-native-maps — Supports custom marker icons but is a completely separate library. It cannot be used alongside @googlemaps/react-native-navigation-sdk on the same map surface, as both require owning the map view.
No existing package solves this within the Navigation SDK's MapViewController surface.
The underlying native SDKs fully support this — BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromBitmap() on Android and GMSMarker.icon on iOS. The gap is only in the React Native wrapper not exposing it.
Proposal
Add an optional icon field to MarkerOptions that accept a URI string pointing to a local asset or remote image, passed through the JS-to-native bridge and applied as the marker's bitmap icon on both Android and iOS.
Proposed TypeScript change:
export interface MarkerOptions {
position: LatLng;
title?: string;
snippet?: string;
isVisible?: boolean;
isFlat?: boolean;
isDraggable?: boolean;
rotation?: number;
alpha?: number;
icon?: { uri: string }; // ← proposed addition
}
Expected usage:
mapViewController.addMarker({
position: { lat: 17.385, lng: 78.4867 },
title: 'Sannihith',
icon: { uri: 'https://example.com/avatar.jpg' },
});
Android (Kotlin) — intended implementation path:
kotlinval iconUri = markerOptionsMap.getString("icon_uri")
val markerOptions = MarkerOptions()
.position(LatLng(lat, lng))
if (iconUri != null) {
val bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(
URL(iconUri).openConnection().getInputStream()
)
markerOptions.icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromBitmap(bitmap))
}
iOS (Swift) — intended implementation path:
swiftif let iconUri = options["icon_uri"] as? String,
let url = URL(string: iconUri),
let data = try? Data(contentsOf: url),
let image = UIImage(data: data) {
marker.icon = image
}
I am willing to implement the Android side and submit a PR. Happy to align on the preferred API shape before starting if maintainers have a different approach in mind.