Maps SDK for Android Utility Library

Description

This open-source library contains utilities that are useful for a wide range of applications using the Google Maps Android API.

• Marker clustering — handles the display of a large number of points
• Heat maps — display a large number of points as a heat map
• IconGenerator — display text on your Markers
• Poly decoding and encoding — compact encoding for paths, interoperability with Maps API web services
• Spherical geometry — for example: computeDistance, computeHeading, computeArea
• KML — displays KML data
• GeoJSON — displays and styles GeoJSON data

You can also find Kotlin extensions for this library here.

Developer Documentation

You can view the generated reference docs for a full list of classes and their methods.

Requirements

• Android API level 15+
• Maps SDK via Google Play Services OR (Deprecated) Maps SDK v3 BETA library

Installation

dependencies {
    // Utilities for Maps SDK for Android (requires Google Play Services) 
    implementation 'com.google.maps.android:android-maps-utils:2.3.0'

    // (Deprecated) Alternately - Utilities for Maps SDK v3 BETA for Android (does not require Google Play Services)
    implementation 'com.google.maps.android:android-maps-utils-v3:2.3.0'
}

Note: The Beta version of the SDK is deprecated and scheduled for decommissioning. A future version of the SDK will provide similar support for Beta features. See the release notes for more information.

Demo App

This repository includes a demo app that illustrates the use of this library.

The version that depends on the Maps SDK for Android can be found under the gms Gradle product flavor, while version that depends on the Maps SDK V3 BETA can be found under the v3 Gradle product flavor. The active product flavor can be modified through Android Studio’s “Build Variants” toolbar options.

To run the demo app, you'll have to:

1. Get a Maps API key
2. Open the file local.properties in the root project (this file should NOT be under version control to protect your API key)
3. Add a single line to local.properties that looks like MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY, where YOUR_API_KEY is the API key you obtained in the first step
4. Build and run the gmsDebug variant for the Maps SDK for Android version, or v3Debug for the Maps SDK v3 BETA version

Migration Guide

Improvements made in version 1.0.0 of the library to support multiple layers on the map caused breaking changes to versions prior to it. These changes also modify behaviors that are documented in the Maps SDK for Android Maps documentation site. This section outlines all those changes and how you can migrate to use this library since version 1.0.0.

Adding Click Events

Click events originate in the layer-specific object that added the marker/ground overlay/polyline/polygon. In each layer, the click handlers are passed to the marker, ground overlay, polyline, or polygon Collection object.

// Clustering
ClusterManager<ClusterItem> clusterManager = // Initialize ClusterManager - if you're using multiple maps features, use the constructor that passes in Manager objects (see next section)
clusterManager.setOnClusterItemClickListener(item -> {
    // Listen for clicks on a cluster item here
    return false;
});
clusterManager.setOnClusterClickListener(item -> {
    // Listen for clicks on a cluster here
    return false;
});

// GeoJson
GeoJsonLayer geoJsonLayer = // Initialize GeoJsonLayer - if you're using multiple maps features, use the constructor that passes in Manager objects (see next section)
geoJsonLayer.setOnFeatureClickListener(feature -> {
    // Listen for clicks on GeoJson features here
});

// KML
KmlLayer kmlLayer = // Initialize KmlLayer - if you're using multiple maps features, use the constructor that passes in Manager objects (see next section)
kmlLayer.setOnFeatureClickListener(feature -> {
    // Listen for clicks on KML features here
});

Using Manager Objects

If you use one of Manager objects in the package com.google.maps.android (e.g. GroundOverlayManager, MarkerManager, etc.), say from adding a KML layer, GeoJson layer, or Clustering, you will have to rely on the Collection specific to add an object to the map rather than adding that object directly to GoogleMap. This is because each Manager sets itself as a click listener so that it can manage click events coming from multiple layers.

For example, if you have additional GroundOverlay objects:

New

GroundOverlayManager groundOverlayManager = // Initialize 

// Create a new collection first
GroundOverlayManager.Collection groundOverlayCollection = groundOverlayManager.newCollection();

// Add a new ground overlay
GroundOverlayOptions options = // ...
groundOverlayCollection.addGroundOverlay(options);

Old

GroundOverlayOptions options = // ...
googleMap.addGroundOverlay(options);

This same pattern applies for Marker, Circle, Polyline, and Polygon.

Adding a Custom Info Window

If you use MarkerManager, adding an InfoWindowAdapter and/or an OnInfoWindowClickListener should be done on the MarkerManager.Collection object.

New

CustomInfoWindowAdapter adapter = // ...
OnInfoWindowClickListener listener = // ...

// Create a new Collection from a MarkerManager
MarkerManager markerManager = // ...
MarkerManager.Collection collection = markerManager.newCollection();

// Set InfoWindowAdapter and OnInfoWindowClickListener
collection.setInfoWindowAdapter(adapter);
collection.setOnInfoWindowClickListener(listener);

// Alternatively, if you are using clustering
ClusterManager<ClusterItem> clusterManager = // ...
MarkerManager.Collection markerCollection = clusterManager.getMarkerCollection();
markerCollection.setInfoWindowAdapter(adapter);
markerCollection.setOnInfoWindowClickListener(listener);

Old

CustomInfoWindowAdapter adapter = // ...
OnInfoWindowClickListener listener = // ...
googleMap.setInfoWindowAdapter(adapter);
googleMap.setOnInfoWindowClickListener(listener);

Adding a Marker Drag Listener

If you use MarkerManager, adding an OnMarkerDragListener should be done on the MarkerManager.Collection object.

New

// Create a new Collection from a MarkerManager
MarkerManager markerManager = // ...
MarkerManager.Collection collection = markerManager.newCollection();

// Add markers to collection
MarkerOptions markerOptions = // ...
collection.addMarker(markerOptions);
// ...

// Set OnMarkerDragListener
GoogleMap.OnMarkerDragListener listener = // ...
collection.setOnMarkerDragListener(listener);

// Alternatively, if you are using clustering
ClusterManager<ClusterItem> clusterManager = // ...
MarkerManager.Collection markerCollection = clusterManager.getMarkerCollection();
markerCollection.setOnMarkerDragListener(listener);

Old

// Add markers
MarkerOptions markerOptions = // ...
googleMap.addMarker(makerOptions);

// Add listener
GoogleMap.OnMarkerDragListener listener = // ...
googleMap.setOnMarkerDragListener(listener);

Clustering

A bug was fixed in v1 to properly clear and re-add markers via the ClusterManager.

For example, this didn't work pre-v1, but works for v1 and later:

clusterManager.clearItems();
clusterManager.addItems(items);
clusterManager.cluster();

If you're using custom clustering (i.e, if you're extending DefaultClusterRenderer), you must override two additional methods in v1:

• onClusterItemUpdated() - should be the same* as your onBeforeClusterItemRendered() method
• onClusterUpdated() - should be the same* as your onBeforeClusterRendered() method

*Note that these methods can't be identical, as you need to use a Marker instead of MarkerOptions

See the CustomMarkerClusteringDemoActivity in the demo app for a complete example.

New

    private class PersonRenderer extends DefaultClusterRenderer<Person> {
        ...     
        @Override
        protected void onBeforeClusterItemRendered(Person person, MarkerOptions markerOptions) {
            // Draw a single person - show their profile photo and set the info window to show their name
            markerOptions
                    .icon(getItemIcon(person))
                    .title(person.name);
        }
        
        /**
         * New in v1 
         */
        @Override
        protected void onClusterItemUpdated(Person person, Marker marker) {
            // Same implementation as onBeforeClusterItemRendered() (to update cached markers)
            marker.setIcon(getItemIcon(person));
            marker.setTitle(person.name);
        }
        
        @Override
        protected void onBeforeClusterRendered(Cluster<Person> cluster, MarkerOptions markerOptions) {
            // Draw multiple people.
            // Note: this method runs on the UI thread. Don't spend too much time in here (like in this example).
            markerOptions.icon(getClusterIcon(cluster));
        }
       
        /**
         * New in v1 
         */
        @Override
        protected void onClusterUpdated(Cluster<Person> cluster, Marker marker) {
            // Same implementation as onBeforeClusterRendered() (to update cached markers)
            marker.setIcon(getClusterIcon(cluster));
        }
        ...
    }

Old

    private class PersonRenderer extends DefaultClusterRenderer<Person> {
        ...       
        @Override
        protected void onBeforeClusterItemRendered(Person person, MarkerOptions markerOptions) {
            // Draw a single person - show their profile photo and set the info window to show their name
            markerOptions
                    .icon(getItemIcon(person))
                    .title(person.name);
        }
        
        @Override
        protected void onBeforeClusterRendered(Cluster<Person> cluster, MarkerOptions markerOptions) {
            // Draw multiple people.
            // Note: this method runs on the UI thread. Don't spend too much time in here (like in this example).
            markerOptions.icon(getClusterIcon(cluster));
        }
        ...
    }

Support

Encounter an issue while using this library?

If you find a bug or have a feature request, please file an issue. Or, if you'd like to contribute, send us a pull request and refer to our code of conduct.

You can also reach us on our Discord channel.

For more information, check out the detailed guide on the Google Developers site.