In Mapme, the default range for the map pitch angle is 0 to 60 degrees, but the platform allows you to extend the range up to 85 degrees.
High-pitch angles offer a bird’s eye view of the map, providing users with a comprehensive and detailed view of the area being displayed. This is especially useful when showcasing cities with skyscrapers or mountainous areas, as the high pitch enhances the sense of depth and terrain.
Benefits of high-pitch angles
Maps with high-pitch angles provide both a comprehensive and detailed view of the area displayed on the map. The bird’s eye perspective helps map users discover and understand the layout of an area. Here are some use case examples where we found that using high pitches is especially useful.
Cities with skyscrapers
High-pitch angles allow map viewers to see tall buildings in cities from a bird’s eye view, giving a great sense of the city’s layout and urban planning.
Mountain area
If you are showing locations in hilly or mountainous areas, high-pitch angles can help provide a more immersive experience. The high pitch creates a sense of depth and provides a better understanding of the terrain.
When do we recommend not using high-pitch angles?
There are definitely use cases where we do not recommend using high-pitch angles. In general, if your map view is set to a high zoom level (zoom 12 and above), a high pitch level will considerably decrease the viewing area and not bring many benefits to the map viewer. As a rule of thumb, if you are showing a large area like a state, country, or the world, don’t use a pitch higher than 60 degrees.
Fortunately, Mapme let you control the pitch level for each view so you can optimize the viewing experience. For example, you can use a low pitch angle on your map home and category views and a high pitch level for the location views.
How do you enable high-pitch angles?
In the Mapme editor, go to Settings > Basemap > Allow high-pitch angles and enable that setting.
This will now expand the range of the pitch slider to 85 degrees.
If you are enabling the advanced feature “map display limit settings” the maxPitch value will now set the limit for the pitch angle value. The toggle for the high-pitch angles is hidden.
For example, if you have set pitch values on your map at 80 degrees and then set the maxPitch value to 60 degrees, the maximum pitch display will be 60.
Customizing the horizon
If you use high pitch angle values, you will notice that the map displays below the horizon and a large portion of the map view is the sky. By default, the sky is white. You can change the sky color and use a gradient background color for the sky with Custom CSS.