Expose public API to open native attribution dialog programmatically (for custom attribution buttons)

[IWANNALIVEINHOTELS]

I am using mapbox_maps_flutter and need to support a custom in-app attribution button (larger hit target / custom UI layout), while still opening the native Mapbox attribution dialog (including telemetry controls where applicable).

At the moment, there does not seem to be a reliable/public Flutter API for this workflow. I can configure attribution ornament visibility/position, but cannot explicitly trigger the native dialog from a custom button.

Why this matters

• Apps frequently need custom controls for accessibility and usability (larger touch areas, custom placement, integrated control panels).
• Attribution still needs to be available for compliance.
• We also need to preserve native attribution behavior and telemetry settings

Current behavior

• mapbox_maps_flutter exposes attribution settings, but no documented method like:
  • mapboxMap.showAttributionDialog()
  • mapboxMap.openAttribution()
• Bridging from host app native code is fragile and version-dependent (ornament internals are not a stable public surface).

Please expose a public, stable API in mapbox_maps_flutter to open the native attribution flow programmatically from app code, for example:

await mapboxMap.showAttributionDialog();

[evil159]

Hi @IWANNALIVEINHOTELS, thanks for the detailed write-up!

To address both parts of your use case:

Hiding the default attribution button — the visibility property on the native side is restricted, meaning it's not part of the public API surface and intentionally not exposed in the Flutter plugin. This is by design as Mapbox requires attribution to remain visible per the https://www.mapbox.com/legal/tos.

Programmatically opening the attribution dialog — this is not currently exposed in the Flutter plugin either, and we appreciate the well-articulated use case. A custom button that triggers the native dialog would indeed be a valid way to maintain attribution compliance while allowing custom UI.

We'll track this as a feature request. In the meantime, if your use case involves accessibility (larger touch targets etc.) rather than removing attribution visibility entirely, note that you can reposition and adjust margins of the built-in button via AttributionButtonOptions — that might help depending on your layout constraints.

[IWANNALIVEINHOTELS]

Thanks for the reply @evil159, in this case, this is mostly about the design of the button not matching the current design in the app. Furthermore, the mentioned AttributionButtonOptions does not exist or is not public to use. Currently the only available options to modify, (which does not support size changes, or custom positions using Positioned widget), are:

controller.attribution.updateSettings(
        mapbox.AttributionSettings(
          enabled: true,
          iconColor: Colors.green.toARGB32(),
          clickable: true,
          marginBottom: 4,
          marginLeft: 4,
          marginRight: 4,
          marginTop: 4,
          position: mapbox.OrnamentPosition.BOTTOM_RIGHT,
        ),
      ),

Another solution would be to provide a widget parameter to the AttributionSettings or exposing functions calls to opt-in/out of telemetry, which is the main reason why I want to be able to use the native dialog, since I cannot provide opt-in/out of telemetry options like the native dialog has, which is also pointed at the following issue: #63