About Bing maps API restrictions and evolution
Microsoft decided to stop giving free individual keys for Bing maps services and move to azure with a new pricing system. Even if sky4sim seems to be impacted by this changes all sky4sim users, new or old, needs to remember that being able to enter your own Bing map key was just a bonus feature. And that sky4sim wasn’t at any point providing access to bing itself as per the message on the product page
![](https://sky4sim.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-1024x316.png)
Indeed, sky4sim natively supports OpenStreetMap which is and will remain free and open source, the possibility to access bing maps background was a bonus and a non essential feature as well as the Maps addons feature which allows you to import any map you would host on your own servers as a map background.
If some of the sky4sim users want to still be able to use bing maps background when we will reach the EOS date, they will have to subscribe to Azure services
We are as well as other addons’ developers really sad about that decision from Microsoft
A new update will be released with the removal of the bing api key form during the first launch process.
Have many great flights,
Regards