Forget Google Maps for Embedding Simple Maps in an AutoHotkey Graphical User Interface (GUI)—OpenStreetMap Supports iFrame Embedding…and It’s Free!

If you only want a simple reference map for your AutoHotkey GUI, then Google has just made that impossible. Google Maps no longer supports embedding maps in an HTML iFrame. (I wish Google had taken this action before I wrote my last two blogs.) Now, to do anything with Google Maps you must get the API (credit card number required) for even the simplest of things. For many professionals needing the extra features, the API may be worth it. (Google credits $200 each month to low quantity users…at least for now.) But why even bother when OpenStreetMap.org, a public source, offers map embedding free under an open license. Plus, it’s likely to remain free forever.

Last week, I wrote about how to embed a Google map into an AutoHotkey GUI, “Embedding Google Maps in the IPFind.ahk GUI.” Within a day or two, Google blocked all iFrame HTML embedding. (Go figure! I don’t think I’m the only one who might be a little disappointed.) However, that action prompted me to take a closer look at OpenStreetMap.org.

To my delight, I discovered that in my earlier perusal I had overlooked the same type of HTML iFrame embedding that Google once offered (only a week ago)—plus, I found other features that eliminated all of my earlier misgivings about OpenStreetMap.org. Since I had already written the code for adding maps to the IPFind.ahk script using Google, I quickly modified it to use the alternate resource.

While the IPFindGoogleMap.ahk script won’t load any maps, the techniques I introduced in my blogs remain valid. (I plan to leave those blogs intact for future reference.) In this blog, I talk about how to alter the Google Maps IPFind.ahk script to support OpenStreetMap.org.