Maps in Mobile Apps: Google Maps SDK vs Yandex MapKit

The short answer

If most of your users are in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan or other CIS countries and the product depends on addresses (delivery, ride-hailing, home services), start by testing Yandex MapKit: Yandex usually has more detailed address data and business listings in the region. If the product is international or you already rely on Firebase and Google services, Google Maps SDK is the more convenient choice.

Data should decide, not reputation: take 30-50 real customer addresses and check how each provider finds them.

Coverage in Uzbekistan and the CIS

What to check in your own city:

• House-level addresses: does a street and number resolve to a building or only to the street?
• Landmarks: in Tashkent and the regions people often describe an address by mahalla or a nearby landmark. See how search handles such queries.
• Places (POI): how current the shops, cafes and offices are.
• Languages: how names display and search in Uzbek Latin, Uzbek Cyrillic and Russian.
• New districts and suburbs: how quickly data gets updated.

Outside the CIS, Google's coverage is generally broader and more even, so apps with users in many regions often choose Google or combine providers.

Pricing and limits

Exact prices change, so compare the structure and check the current pricing pages.

The main cost driver is how often you call geocoding and routing, not how often you show the map. Cache geocoding results, do not look up an address on every map movement, and debounce requests while the user is typing.

Geocoding and routing

• Google: Geocoding API, Places API for address autocomplete and Routes API for routes and travel times. These are web services and are often called from your backend so the key stays off the device.
• Yandex MapKit: comes as a lite SDK (map only) and a full SDK with search, geocoding, routing for cars, pedestrians and public transport, and offline maps. The full version noticeably increases app size.

For Flutter, Google has the official google_maps_flutter plugin; for MapKit you rely on community plugins or your own wrapper over the native SDK, so plan time for that.

Background location: store rules

Background tracking is the most scrutinized part.

Android:

• ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION is requested separately, after fine or coarse location is granted;
• Google Play Console requires a declaration explaining why the app needs background location, with a video showing it;
• long-running tracking needs a foreground service of type location with a visible notification.

iOS:

• Info.plist needs clear NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription and NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription texts;
• add the location mode to UIBackgroundModes only if the feature cannot work without it;
• ask for "While Using" first, and for "Always" only when the user turns on a feature that needs it.

If background location is not a core feature, the store may reject the app. Often location while the app is in use is enough.

Battery impact

• Pick accuracy that fits the task: approximate location is enough for a city; GPS is for navigation and courier tracking.
• Increase the interval and minimum distance between updates.
• Use the Fused Location Provider on Android and significant location changes or geofences on iOS instead of constant GPS.
• Stop updates when the map screen is closed.
• Send coordinates to the server in batches, not one request per point.