Is local caching of map images allowed under the ToS?

[philipp_native]

Hi,

I am planning to develop a mobile application that locally caches map images of a small and limited number of points of interest for offline usage. This is especially relevant for users travelling abroad without an international data plan or in regions without sufficient mobile coverage. If network access is available dynamic Nokia Maps will be used.

Is this usage scenario covered by the terms of service that apply to the Map Image API?

Philipp

[jasfox]

The RESTful Map API (a.k.a.. Map Image API) is covered by the terms of agreement defined here: http://www.developer.nokia.com/Develop/Maps/TC.html

The relevant clause seems to be 4(x):

When using the APIs you hereby agree that You will not:
4(x) pre-fetch, cache, or store any Nokia Maps Content or Places Content except through API functionality specifically intended for such use and except that You may store (i) references and IDs; and (ii) limited amounts of Nokia Maps Content or Places Content solely for the purpose of testing your Application, if You do so temporarily, securely, and in a manner that does not permit use of the Nokia Maps Content or Places Content outside of the Service;

As a simple request-response service, I don't think the RESTful Map API offers a caching service directly, but some of the other APIs do. If your mobile application uses the Maps API for Java ME for example, caching is provided out of the box:

map.setCache("CachedDemo/cache", no_items, min_free_percentage);

So it looks like accessing the Images properly online and then placing into some sort of limited local storage is permitted, but taking a copy of an image and holding as a PNG resource wouldn't be acceptable.