However the previous line of code will remove all map annotations "PINS" from
the map, including the user location pin "Blue Pin". To remove all map
annotations and keep the user location pin on the map, there are two
possible ways to do that
Example 1, retain the user location annotation, remove all pins, add
the user location pin back, but there is a flaw with this approach, it
will cause the user location pin to blink on the map, due to removing
the pin then adding it back
- (void)removeAllPinsButUserLocation1
{
id userLocation = [mapView userLocation];
[mapView removeAnnotations:[mapView annotations]];
if ( userLocation != nil ) {
[mapView addAnnotation:userLocation]; // will cause user location pin to blink
}
}
Example 2, I personally prefer to avoid removing the location user pin
in the first place,
- (void)removeAllPinsButUserLocation2
{
id userLocation = [mapView userLocation];
NSMutableArray *pins = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[mapView annotations]];
if ( userLocation != nil ) {
[pins removeObject:userLocation]; // avoid removing user location off the map
}
[mapView removeAnnotations:pins];
[pins release];
pins = nil;
}
-(void)removeAllAnnotations
{
//Get the current user location annotation.
id userAnnotation=mapView.userLocation;
//Remove all added annotations
[mapView removeAnnotations:mapView.annotations];
// Add the current user location annotation again.
if(userAnnotation!=nil)
[mapView addAnnotation:userAnnotation];
}
You do not need to save any reference to user location. All that is needed is:
[mapView removeAnnotations:mapView.annotations];
And as long as you have mapView.showsUserLocation set to YES, you will still have user location on the map. Settings this property to YES basically asks the map view to start updating and fetching user location, to to show it on the map. From the MKMapView.h comments:
// Set to YES to add the user location annotation to the map and start updating its location