google maps api v3 no labels?

Question

Is there a way to turn off all labels (street names, state names, country names etc.) from google maps using the API v3? Or are these built directly into the map images?

Answer 1

Yes, you can do this using the Styled Maps feature of the Google Maps API v3.

Specifically, this style will disable all labels:

[
  {
    featureType: "all",
    elementType: "labels",
    stylers: [
      { visibility: "off" }
    ]
  }
]

You can apply it to a current map by using:

var customStyled = [];//(array shown above)
map.set('styles',customStyled);