Help & support

Our API is designed to work with the speech recognition technology of your current voice supplier. If your voice supplier needs help recognising 3 word addresses, don't hesitate to get in touch.

The what3words API translates 3 word addresses to GPS coordinates. It does not provide map or routing data. However, our API does provide a layer that can be used with any mapping software, meaning it can work well as part of your existing mapping, addressing and route optimisation solutions.

The what3words API has a grid-section function (learn more at: https://developer.what3words.com/public-api/docs#grid-section). This returns grid lines for the area supplied in GeoJSON format, which can be directly added to a web map or desktop GIS such as QGIS. To add the what3words grid to a Google Map, watch this short tutorial: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/displaying-the-what3words-grid-on-a-google-map/

Adding coordinates to a spreadsheet is easy using the what3words Excel Add-in. Once installed, you can use a formula to call the API and display a column of coordinates. To install our Excel Add-in, watch our simple tutorial: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/installing-the-excel-add-in/

Adding a file of 3 word addresses is easy using the what3words ArcGIS Locator. Simply add the Locator to ArcGIS Online or Desktop and then drag and drop onto the map. Watch the tutorial here: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/how-to-plot-a-file-of-3-word-addresses-in-arcgis-online/ for full details on how to add a CSV to ArcGIS Online.

The what3words API supports 37 languages with more being added all the time. These currently include: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, German, Turkish, Swedish, Italian, Mongolian, Arabic, Finnish, Polish, Danish, Norwegian, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Greek, Dutch, Czech, Afrikaans, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bahasa Malaysia, Hungarian, Romanian, Hebrew and Bulgarian. You can call the what3words API to find out the available languages programmatically using the available-languages function. Learn how here: https://developer.what3words.com/public-api/docs#available-languages/

We have a range of API wrappers for easy integration into a mobile app. Find out more in the tutorials below: Swift: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/swift/ Objective-C: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/objective-c/ Android: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/android/

Our range of API wrappers make it easy to integrate what3words into any website. Find out how to use them by watching the relevant tutorial: JavaScript: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/javascript/ NodeJS: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/nodejs/ PHP: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/android/ Java: https://developer.what3words.com/tutorial/java/

It’s easy to add a 3 word address to a website by using this tool: https://what3words.com/products/embed-code-generator/. Check out our UX guidelines here: https://developer.what3words.com/ux-guidelines

For information on how to display search results, read our UX guidelines: https://developer.what3words.com/ux-guidelines/ We recommend displaying the country flag and nearest region to give users context.