A quick alternative

ggmap also provides a quick alternative to ggmap(). Like qplot() in ggplot2, qmplot() is less flexible than a full specification, but often involves significantly less typing. qmplot() replaces both steps -- downloading the map and displaying the map -- and its syntax is a blend between qplot(), get_map(), and ggmap().

Let's take a look at the qmplot() version of the faceted plot from the previous exercise:

qmplot(lon, lat, data = sales, 
       geom = "point", color = class) +
  facet_wrap(~ class)

Notice we didn't specify a map, since qmplot() will grab one on its own. Otherwise the qmplot() call looks a lot like the corresponding qplot() call: use points to display the sales data, mapping lon to the x-axis, lat to the y-axis, and class to color. qmplot() also sets the default dataset and mapping (without the need for base_layer) so you can add facets without any extra work.