Search

Radar’s search APIs allow you to find places, geofences, and business locations near a given point with powerful filtering capabilities.

Search Places

Search for places near a location, sorted by distance. You can filter by chains, categories, groups, and countries.

Basic Place Search

Search for places within a radius using the device’s current location:

Radar.searchPlaces(
    radius: 1000,
    chains: nil,
    categories: ["restaurant"],
    groups: nil,
    countryCodes: nil,
    limit: 10
) { status, location, places in
    if status == .success {
        places?.forEach { place in
            print("Place: \(place.name)")
            print("Categories: \(place.categories.joined(separator: ", "))")
        }
    }
}

[Radar searchPlacesWithRadius:1000
                       chains:nil
                   categories:@[@"restaurant"]
                       groups:nil
                 countryCodes:nil
                        limit:10
            completionHandler:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarPlace *> * _Nullable places) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        for (RadarPlace *place in places) {
            NSLog(@"Place: %@", place.name);
            NSLog(@"Categories: %@", [place.categories componentsJoinedByString:@", "]);
        }
    }
}];

Search by Chain

Find specific restaurant or retail chains near a location:

Radar.searchPlaces(
    radius: 5000,
    chains: ["mcdonalds", "starbucks"],
    categories: nil,
    groups: nil,
    countryCodes: ["US"],
    limit: 20
) { status, location, places in
    if status == .success {
        places?.forEach { place in
            print("Chain: \(place.chain?.name ?? "Unknown")")
            print("Address: \(place.address?.formattedAddress ?? "")")
        }
    }
}

[Radar searchPlacesWithRadius:5000
                       chains:@[@"mcdonalds", @"starbucks"]
                   categories:nil
                       groups:nil
                 countryCodes:@[@"US"]
                        limit:20
            completionHandler:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarPlace *> * _Nullable places) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        for (RadarPlace *place in places) {
            NSLog(@"Chain: %@", place.chain.name);
            NSLog(@"Address: %@", place.address.formattedAddress);
        }
    }
}];

See the complete list of supported chains in the Radar documentation.

Search with Chain Metadata

Filter chains by custom metadata attributes:

Radar.searchPlaces(
    radius: 1000,
    chains: ["mcdonalds"],
    chainMetadata: ["orderActive": "true"],
    categories: nil,
    groups: nil,
    countryCodes: ["US"],
    limit: 10
) { status, location, places in
    if status == .success {
        places?.forEach { place in
            print("Place: \(place.name)")
            if let metadata = place.chain?.metadata {
                print("Metadata: \(metadata)")
            }
        }
    }
}

[Radar searchPlacesWithRadius:1000
                       chains:@[@"mcdonalds"]
                chainMetadata:@{@"orderActive": @"true"}
                   categories:nil
                       groups:nil
                 countryCodes:@[@"US"]
                        limit:10
            completionHandler:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarPlace *> * _Nullable places) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        for (RadarPlace *place in places) {
            NSLog(@"Place: %@", place.name);
            if (place.chain.metadata) {
                NSLog(@"Metadata: %@", place.chain.metadata);
            }
        }
    }
}];

Chain metadata must be configured in the Radar dashboard settings.

Search Near a Specific Location

Search for places near coordinates other than the device’s current location:

let searchLocation = CLLocation(latitude: 40.7128, longitude: -74.0060)

Radar.searchPlaces(
    near: searchLocation,
    radius: 2000,
    chains: nil,
    categories: ["cafe", "restaurant"],
    groups: nil,
    countryCodes: ["US"],
    limit: 15
) { status, location, places in
    if status == .success {
        places?.forEach { place in
            print("\(place.name): \(place.categories.joined(separator: ", "))")
        }
    }
}

CLLocation *searchLocation = [[CLLocation alloc] initWithLatitude:40.7128 longitude:-74.0060];

[Radar searchPlacesNear:searchLocation
                 radius:2000
                 chains:nil
             categories:@[@"cafe", @"restaurant"]
                 groups:nil
           countryCodes:@[@"US"]
                  limit:15
      completionHandler:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarPlace *> * _Nullable places) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        for (RadarPlace *place in places) {
            NSLog(@"%@: %@", place.name, [place.categories componentsJoinedByString:@", "]);
        }
    }
}];

Search Parameters

Radius

Search radius in meters. Must be between 100 and 10,000 meters.

Chains

Array of chain slugs to filter. Cannot be combined with categories or groups.

Search Geofences

Search for geofences near a location, sorted by distance. This is useful for finding nearby custom regions.

Basic Geofence Search

Search for all geofences near the device’s current location:

Radar.searchGeofences { status, location, geofences in
    if status == .success {
        geofences?.forEach { geofence in
            print("Geofence: \(geofence.__description)")
            print("Tag: \(geofence.tag ?? "None")")
            print("External ID: \(geofence.externalId ?? "None")")
        }
    }
}

[Radar searchGeofences:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarGeofence *> * _Nullable geofences) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        for (RadarGeofence *geofence in geofences) {
            NSLog(@"Geofence: %@", geofence.__description);
            NSLog(@"Tag: %@", geofence.tag);
            NSLog(@"External ID: %@", geofence.externalId);
        }
    }
}];

Advanced Geofence Search

Search with filters for tags, metadata, radius, and result limits:

let searchLocation = CLLocation(latitude: 40.7128, longitude: -74.0060)

Radar.searchGeofences(
    near: searchLocation,
    radius: 1000,
    tags: ["store", "venue"],
    metadata: ["type": "retail"],
    limit: 50,
    includeGeometry: false
) { status, location, geofences in
    if status == .success {
        print("Found \(geofences?.count ?? 0) geofences")
        geofences?.forEach { geofence in
            print("Geofence: \(geofence.__description)")
            if let metadata = geofence.metadata {
                print("Metadata: \(metadata)")
            }
        }
    }
}

CLLocation *searchLocation = [[CLLocation alloc] initWithLatitude:40.7128 longitude:-74.0060];

[Radar searchGeofencesNear:searchLocation
                    radius:1000
                      tags:@[@"store", @"venue"]
                  metadata:@{@"type": @"retail"}
                     limit:50
           includeGeometry:NO
         completionHandler:^(RadarStatus status, CLLocation * _Nullable location, NSArray<RadarGeofence *> * _Nullable geofences) {
    if (status == RadarStatusSuccess) {
        NSLog(@"Found %lu geofences", (unsigned long)geofences.count);
        for (RadarGeofence *geofence in geofences) {
            NSLog(@"Geofence: %@", geofence.__description);
            if (geofence.metadata) {
                NSLog(@"Metadata: %@", geofence.metadata);
            }
        }
    }
}];

Geofence Search Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`near`	`CLLocation?`	Search location (nil uses current location)
`radius`	`Int`	Search radius in meters (100-10000, or -1 for unlimited)
`tags`	`[String]?`	Array of tags to filter
`metadata`	`[String: Any]?`	Dictionary of metadata to filter
`limit`	`Int`	Maximum results (1-1000, default 100)
`includeGeometry`	`Bool`	Include geometry in response (set to false for >100 results)

Set includeGeometry to false if you only need geofence metadata and not the actual boundaries. This improves performance and allows returning more than 100 results.

Place Categories

Radar supports hundreds of place categories across different verticals:

Common Categories

Food & Drink

restaurant, cafe, bar, fast-food, bakery, brewery

Retail

clothing-store, grocery-store, pharmacy, convenience-store

Services

bank, atm, gas-station, car-wash, post-office

Health & Fitness

gym, hospital, doctor, dentist, spa

Entertainment

movie-theater, museum, park, stadium, casino

Transportation

airport, train-station, bus-station, parking

View all categories →

Working with Search Results

RadarPlace Properties

The RadarPlace object contains comprehensive information about each place:

Radar.searchPlaces(...) { status, location, places in
    if let place = places?.first {
        // Basic info
        print("ID: \(place._id)")
        print("Name: \(place.name)")
        print("Categories: \(place.categories)")
        
        // Chain information
        if let chain = place.chain {
            print("Chain: \(chain.name)")
            print("Chain slug: \(chain.slug)")
            print("Chain metadata: \(chain.metadata ?? [:])")
        }
        
        // Location
        print("Coordinate: \(place.location.coordinate)")
        
        // Address
        if let address = place.address {
            print("Address: \(address.formattedAddress ?? "")")
        }
        
        // Group and metadata
        if let group = place.group {
            print("Group: \(group)")
        }
        if let metadata = place.metadata {
            print("Metadata: \(metadata)")
        }
    }
}

Checking Place Properties

RadarPlace provides convenience methods for checking chains and categories:

if let place = places?.first {
    // Check if place is part of a specific chain
    if place.isChain("starbucks") {
        print("This is a Starbucks location")
    }
    
    // Check if place has a specific category
    if place.hasCategory("restaurant") {
        print("This is a restaurant")
    }
}

Use Cases

Store Locator

Build a store locator to help users find nearby retail locations.

Restaurant Finder

Create a restaurant discovery feature with category filters.

Delivery Zones

Search geofences to determine if a location is within a delivery zone.

Competitor Analysis

Find competitor locations near your stores using chain search.

Performance Tips

Optimize Search Radius

Use the smallest radius necessary for your use case. Smaller radii return results faster.

Limit Results

Request only the number of results you need. Fewer results improve performance.

Use Specific Filters

Filter by country, category, or chain to reduce result sets and improve relevance.

Disable Geometry

For geofence searches, set includeGeometry: false if you don’t need the shapes.

Learn More

Places API

Explore the complete places search API reference

Geofences API

Learn about geofence search capabilities

Context

Get comprehensive location context

Geocoding

Convert between addresses and coordinates

Getting Started

Core Features

Location Services

Configuration

Advanced

Migration & Support

Search Places

Basic Place Search

Search by Chain

Search with Chain Metadata

Search Near a Specific Location

Search Parameters

Search Geofences

Basic Geofence Search

Advanced Geofence Search

Geofence Search Parameters

Place Categories

Working with Search Results

RadarPlace Properties

Checking Place Properties

Use Cases

Store Locator

Restaurant Finder

Delivery Zones

Competitor Analysis

Performance Tips

Learn More

Places API

Geofences API

Context

Geocoding

​Search Places

​Basic Place Search

​Search by Chain

​Search with Chain Metadata

​Search Near a Specific Location

​Search Parameters

​Search Geofences

​Basic Geofence Search

​Advanced Geofence Search

​Geofence Search Parameters

​Place Categories

​Working with Search Results

​RadarPlace Properties

​Checking Place Properties

​Use Cases

Store Locator

Restaurant Finder

Delivery Zones

Competitor Analysis

​Performance Tips

​Learn More

Places API

Geofences API

Context

Geocoding

Search Places

Basic Place Search

Search by Chain

Search with Chain Metadata

Search Near a Specific Location

Search Parameters

Search Geofences

Basic Geofence Search

Advanced Geofence Search

Geofence Search Parameters

Place Categories

Working with Search Results

RadarPlace Properties

Checking Place Properties

Use Cases

Performance Tips

Learn More