Android Studio - Getting Started
This guide is a quick start to adding a map to
an Android app. Android Studio is the
recommended development environment for building an app with the Google Maps
Android API.
Step 1. Download Android Studio
Step 2. Install the Google Play services SDK
Add the Google Play services package to
Android Studio.
Step 3. Create a Google Maps project
Follow these steps to create a new app project
including a map activity:
Start Android Studio.
- Create a new project as follows:
- If you see the Welcome to Android Studio dialog, choose Start a new Android Studio project, available under ‘Quick Start’ on the right of the dialog.
- Otherwise, click File in the Android Studio menu bar, then New, New Project.
- Enter your app name, company domain, and project location, as prompted. Then click Next.
- Select the form factors you need for your app. If you’re not sure what you need, just select Phone and Tablet. Then click Next.
- Select Google Maps Activity in the ‘Add an activity to Mobile’ dialog. Then click Next.
- Enter the activity name, layout name and title as prompted. The default values are fine. Then click Finish.
- Android Studio starts Gradle and builds your project. This may take a few seconds. For more information about creating a project in Android Studio, see the Android Studio documentation.
- When the build is finished, Android Studio opens the google_maps_api.xml and the MapsActivity.javafiles in the editor. (Note that your activity may have a different name, but it will be the one you configured during setup.) Notice that the google_maps_api.xml file contains instructions on getting a Google Maps API key before you try to run the application. The next section describes getting the API key in more detail.
Step 4. Get a Google Maps API key
Your application needs an API key to access the
Google Maps servers. The type of key you need is an API key with restriction
for Android apps. The key is free. You can use it with any of your applications that call the Google Maps Android API, and it supports an
unlimited number of users.
Choose one of the following ways to
get your API key from Android Studio:
The fast, easy way: Use the link
provided in the google_maps_api.xml file that Android Studio created
for you:
Copy the link provided in the google_maps_api.xml file
and paste it into your browser. The link takes you to the Google API Console
and supplies the required information to the Google API Console via URL
parameters, thus reducing the manual input required from you.
Follow the instructions to create a new project
on the Google API Console or select an existing project.
Create an Android-restricted API key for your
project.
Copy the resulting API key, go back to Android
Studio, and paste the API key into the <string> element in the google_maps_api.xml file.
A slightly less fast way: Use the
credentials provided in the google_maps_api.xml file that Android
Studio created for you:
Copy the credentials provided in the google_maps_api.xml file.
Go to the Google API Console in your browser.
Use the copied credentials to add your app to an
existing API key or to create a new API key.
The full process for getting an API key: If neither of
the above options works for your situation, follow the complete process.
Step 5. Hello Map! Take a look at the code
Examine the code supplied by the template. In
particular, look at the following files in your Android Studio project.
The XML layout file
By default, the XML file that defines the app’s
layout is at res/layout/activity_maps.xml. It contains the following code:
<fragment xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:id="@+id/map"
tools:context=".MapsActivity"
android:name="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
/>
The maps activity Java file
By default, the Java file that defines the maps
activity is named MapsActivity.java. It should contain the following code
after your package name:
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.CameraUpdateFactory;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.OnMapReadyCallback;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.LatLng;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.MarkerOptions;
public class MapsActivity extends FragmentActivity
implements OnMapReadyCallback {
private GoogleMap mMap;
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle
savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_maps);
SupportMapFragment
mapFragment = (SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager()
.findFragmentById(R.id.map);
mapFragment.getMapAsync(this);
}
@Override
public void onMapReady(GoogleMap
googleMap) {
mMap = googleMap;
// Add a marker in
Sydney, Australia, and move the camera.
LatLng sydney = new LatLng(-34,
151);
mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions().position(sydney).title("Marker
in Sydney"));
mMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLng(sydney));
}
}
If your maps activity file doesn’t contain the
above code, replace the contents of the file with the above code, after your
package name.
Step 6. Connect an Android device
The simplest way to see your app in action is to
connect an Android device to your computer. Follow the instructions to enable developer options
on your Android device and configure your application and system to detect the
device.
Alternatively, you can use the Android Emulator
to run your app. Use the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager to
configure one or more virtual devices which you’ll be able to use with the
Android Emulator when you build and run your app. When choosing your emulator,
ensure that you use Android 4.2.2 or higher, and be careful to pick an image
that includes the Google APIs, or the application will not have the requisite
runtime APIs in order to execute. Also, take note of the instructions for configuring virtual machine
acceleration, which you should use with an x86 target AVD as
described in the instructions. This will improve your experience with the
emulator.
Step 7. Build and run your app
In Android Studio, click the Run menu
option (or the play button icon) to run your app.
When prompted to choose a device, choose one of
the following options:
Select the Android device that’s connected to
your computer.
Alternatively, select the Launch
emulator radio button and choose the virtual device that you’ve
previously configured.
Click OK. Android Studio will invoke
Gradle to build your app, and then display the results on the device or on the
emulator. It could take a couple of minutes before the app opens.
You should see a map with a marker positioned
over Sydney, Australia. If you don’t see a map, confirm that you’ve completed
all the steps described on this page. In particular, check that you’ve added an
API key as described above.
You may wish to look at some sample code.
You can read more about map objects in the
developer’s guide.
Android Studio
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