Pinpoint: A virtual user conference in
Smarty

Address Autocomplete API implementation tips

Ryan Muir
Ryan Muir
 | 
August 3, 2023
Tags
Address Autocomplete API Implementation Tips

Hey, web developers! Ready to enhance your address forms and provide a seamless user experience? In our new ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," we explore valuable insights and implementation tips to transform your checkout and make address entry the easiest thing they'll do all day.  Click here to download the ebook and learn more, or read on to get a preview of what the ebook offers.

Let's discuss how reverse geocoding and address autocomplete can work together to facilitate zero keystroke autocomplete. We'll provide implementation tips for developers who are ready to zhuzh up their forms.

Form flexibility

When it comes to address forms, we understand that one size doesn't fit all. Destination country, PO Boxes, apartment numbers, and more can make streamlining your checkout flow a nearly insurmountable task. 

When integrating zero-keystroke autocomplete, you'll want to use address APIs that provide fully parsed addresses. When a user's location is used by a reverse geocoding API or an autocomplete API to suggest valid addresses, you can choose how that information populates in the forms. 

Common approaches included: 

1. Populating the entire address in a single field, including the house number all the way through the state and ZIP Code:

Entire field population

2. Parsing the address into the most expected address fields that are already visible on the page, like Address Line 1, Unit Number, City, State, and ZIP Code: 

Parsing addresses into an expected field

3. Keeping all but a single address field hidden until a user makes their selection, then parsing the address into the appropriate components and making only the populated  fields visible while keeping irrelevant fields hidden: 

Single address fields

These approaches help limit the size and complexity of your form. With an uncluttered form, it still accommodates every address combination, molding to the unique components present in any address without confusing users with overly generic or redundant fields that contribute to entry errors.

Have a user location backup plan

In mobile development, Google and Apple allow their users to choose between sharing "Approximate" or "Precise" location data. It's a valuable resource that empowers users to decide how accurate they want their location to be. 

"Precise" location relies on GPS to pinpoint the user's exact location down to a few meters.

"Approximate" location uses Wi-Fi and cellular data to locate the device within about 1.2 square miles.

Cleary, "Approximate" location isn't sufficient for reverse geocoding, and suggesting the 10 closest addresses to a point somewhere within 1.2 square miles of the user will only lead to confusion. To avoid such issues, it's best to have a backup plan in place and code your  integration in a way that skips reverse geocoded address predictions if the location isn't "Precise" and seamlessly moves on to regular autocomplete, and then manual address entry as needed. A reliable fallback!

Ensuring precision

You might be wondering, "How do we determine if the location isn't "Precise"?" Well, there's a helpful metric for that. Look at the horizontal accuracy value provided by the location provider. It gives you insight into the accuracy of the user's location. For example, Android's documentation mentions a 68% confidence level for horizontal accuracy. So, if your user's device reports a horizontal accuracy of 10 meters, it means the true location lies within a circle with a 10-meter radius and 68% confidence.

Here's the crucial part. If the horizontal accuracy is low, it's better to stick to regular autocomplete. But if it's high, you can confidently use reverse geocoding and provide your users with even better location-based experiences!

Download the ebook

Are you excited to master the art of form flexibility and improve your web forms' performance? Don't miss the chance to delve into the insights and tips shared in our ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete." It's packed with valuable information and links to documentation to help you enhance your forms and provide a smoother user experience.

Remember, your users deserve the best experience on your website. So, learn to implement zero keystroke address autocomplete by downloading our ebook and taking your forms to the next level.

Unlock the power of address autocomplete! Download the ebook, "Magical Benefits of Address Autocomplete," now. Happy form building!

ebook.webp

Subscribe to our blog!
Learn more about RSS feeds here.
rss feed icon
Subscribe Now
Read our recent posts
Around the World in 80 Days (with Smarty!)
Arrow Icon
Phony passports. Runaway trains. Rogue elephants. Hot air balloons. Phileas Fogg dodged them all in the 1956 movie adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World in 80 Days. His race was against time. Today, your ecommerce business is running a race of its own; delivering quickly, accurately, and affordably across a world full of logistical landmines. Fortunately, you don’t need a valet named Passepartout to guide you (although wouldn’t that be fun?!) You just need Smarty. Smarty is your passport to global address data perfection, specializing in address verification, autocomplete, geocoding, and enrichment.
Address component analysis: A smarter way to validate addresses
Arrow Icon
Most address validation tools give you a simple thumbs up or down on an address because it either matches or it doesn’t, right? But what if you need more than just “valid” or “invalid” as a response? What if you could know exactly what part of the address is off, like a misspelled street name or an unconfirmed vanity city (like Hollywood), and why it isn’t considered valid?What if part of an address needed to change in order to make it a mailable, valid address? We think you’d want to know that, too.
BREAKING: Rooftop geocodes walk off the job—chaos mounting by the hour
Arrow Icon
Dateline: Tuesday, 8:04 a. m. In what experts are calling “the biggest location intelligence crisis since the discovery of space,” rooftop-accurate geocodes have officially gone on strike. The high-precision coordinates—normally pinpointing locations down to the exact rooftop for deliveries, telecom installs, insurance claims, and analytics—appeared on Smarty TV and issued a short but cutting statement this morning:“We’re tired of being taken for granted. We’re tired of being treated like just another number.

Ready to get started?