Android Google Maps API Integration With Examples [Latest]

Android Google Maps API

Android Google Maps v1 API is deprecated now so we’ll integrate Google Maps v2 API in our application.

The API automatically handles access to Google Maps servers, data downloading, map display, and response to map gestures.

We can use the API calls to add markers, polygons, show user location and provide additional features for the user to interact with the map.

Android Google Maps API key

To use android google maps api in our application we need to register our app in the google developer console and enable the Google Map API keys.

Click the Create Project button to create a new project and give it the desired name.

Select Google Maps Android API and click the Enable API button that appears on the next page.

After the API is enabled, click Go to Credentials, from the left panel. From the Add Credentials menu , select API Key.

Select Android Key as shown below.

Click the add package name and fingerprint button to add your app’s package name (We’ve used com.journaldev.integratingmaps) and the SHA1 fingerprint. After clicking the Create button, you will be shown an API key that we will use in our app.

Note : The SHA 1 fingerprint is fetched by running the following commands:

• For Linux OS/ MAC :

  keytool -list -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

• For Windows :

  
  keytool -list -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%.androiddebug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android
  

The SHA 1 fingerprint that we’ve added by running the above command on the terminal is shown in the image below along with the project package name. Your SHA 1 fingerprint key could be a different one.

Adding android google map

Add the following dependency to build.gradle file.

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:8.3.0'

Add the following tags under the application tag in AndroidManifest.xml.

<meta-data
            android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY"
            android:value="YOUR_GOOGLE_MAP_API_KEY" />
<meta-data
            android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
            android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />

Add your own API key string in the android:value attribute of maps.v2.API_KEY by following the steps mentioned above.

Android Google Maps Project Structure

Android Google Maps Example Code

Keeping this application simple we’ve just added a SupportMapFragment tag inside content_main.xml as shown below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="https://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="https://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="https://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    app:layout_behavior="@string/appbar_scrolling_view_behavior"
    tools:context="com.journaldev.integratingmaps.MainActivity"
    tools:showIn="@layout/activity_main">
    <fragment
        android:id="@+id/map"
        android:name="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_gravity="center"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        />
</RelativeLayout>

Add the following permission to the AndroidManifest.xml file.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>

Build and run this application on the emulator. The following outputs would be shown:

Oops! Did we miss out something? No. This error occurs when the latest google play services version isn’t installed on the emulator. There are many workarounds to update to the latest versions like downloading and installing a play store apk using the command : adb install play_store_file.apk.

We recommend a simpler workaround. Just go to Settings->Apps->Google Play Services and use that version number in the build.gradle in place of :

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:8.3.0'

The following output would be shown. A default world map.

This brings an end to this tutorial. We’ll discuss and implement various features of google maps in later tutorials. Being a basic project with minimal differences from a default new project we’ve omitted the source code. Following are the major changes to be done to the default android studio project:

• Create a new project and replace the content_main.xml with the snippet shown above.
• Add the meta-data tags in the AndroidManifest.xml as shown above with the respective Google Map v2 API key.
• Your first Google Map integrated application is ready!