{"id":3383,"date":"2019-02-13T11:22:10","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T11:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/?p=3383"},"modified":"2026-02-20T09:43:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:43:54","slug":"til-about-plus-codes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.20i.com\/blog\/til-about-plus-codes\/","title":{"rendered":"So today I learned about Plus Codes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eh?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while browsing Google maps today, I noticed that along with the regular street, town, region and country information for a given place there was a small but intriguing combination of letters and numbers (and a plus, obviously). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was neatly tucked away in all the other details like it has always been there – but it hasn\u2019t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s what I found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. What are Plus Codes?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How do I use Plus Codes?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. How are Plus Codes useful?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What are Plus Codes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A quick Google later and I am on Google Maps’ Plus Codes<\/a> – explaining to me that they’re a way of encoding longitude and latitude data into a Plus Code and an area or area code (the area\/area code is needed unless you\u2019re within 25 kilometres of the location).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Plus Code covers the area of a building (unless a high accuracy code is generated) up to 14×14 metre resolution. Adding one other character to the code provides resolution up to 3×3 metre. There\u2019s not really that much to the codes, they\u2019re just an area code and a local code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I’d been looking for the exact location of Boris Brejcha\u2019s DJ set<\/a> in the grounds of Ch\u00e2teau de Fontainebleau, France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, the reason I found them useful is because they can describe the location of the YouTube video (and my desk in the 20i office) much more precisely than the official addresses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    20i office<\/td>4VJ5+JG Mansfield, UK<\/td><\/tr>
    YouTube video<\/td>CM2X+RH Fontainebleau, France<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    How do I use Plus Codes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    To get started with them, you don\u2019t need to do much!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Choose your favourite language from those available – then find the longitude and latitude of a location and get encoding. Or get the Plus Code of a location and get decoding!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Encoding a Plus Code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    I decided to generate a code for the castle<\/a> using the coordinates from Google Maps. I used the raw source from Google’s GitHub<\/a>, pasted it into my Chrome console, and used https:\/\/github.com\/google\/open-location-code\/tree\/master\/js to find out what to do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <= OpenLocationCode.encode(48.402096, 2.698874, OpenLocationCode.CODE_PRECISION_NORMAL)\n\n=> \"8FW4CM2X+RG\"<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Worked first time, so now it\u2019s time to decode!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Decoding a Plus code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    Continuing their documentation I tried to decode my first encoded code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    <= OpenLocationCode.decode(\"8FW4CM2X+RG\")\n\n=> Object {\ncodeLength: 10\nlatitudeCenter: 48.402062500000014\nlatitudeHi: 48.40212500000001\nlatitudeLo: 48.402000000000015\nlongitudeCenter: 2.6988125000000167\nlongitudeHi: 2.6988750000000152\nlongitudeLo: 2.698750000000018\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Also worked first time! There\u2019s my original input data right there (give or take a few points difference).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    What are Plus Codes useful for?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    They\u2019re great for finding the location of a place that doesn\u2019t have a perfect street address: the 20i office isn\u2019t directly at the pin for our official postal address in Google Maps, but it is if you use the Plus Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    It is the same case for the location of Boris Brejcha\u2019s DJ set inside the gardens at the castle: each place\u2019s exact location given in a small handy code – awesome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    Get on the map with Plus Codes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    According to the World Bank, half of the world’s population live on ‘unnamed streets’. So for those people, Plus Codes are a way for them to have a recorded address – to receive deliveries and access services. They can even be used by emergency services or disaster relief in remote locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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