Use MapView in a regular Android activity

Question

I want to implement a MapView with a pin pointing to a certain location on the map, how is that possible, it'd be great if you provide a step by step guide, thanks in advance

Answer 1

You can use: com.google.android.gms.maps.MapView Inside a relative layout.

For example: First you need a fragment like this:

public class SomeFragment extends Fragment {

MapView mapView;
GoogleMap map;

@Override
public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    View v = inflater.inflate(R.layout.some_layout, container, false);

    // Gets the MapView from the XML layout and creates it
    mapView = (MapView) v.findViewById(R.id.mapview);
    mapView.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // Gets to GoogleMap from the MapView and does initialization stuff
    map = mapView.getMap();
    map.getUiSettings().setMyLocationButtonEnabled(false);
    map.setMyLocationEnabled(true);

    // Needs to call MapsInitializer before doing any CameraUpdateFactory calls
    try {
        MapsInitializer.initialize(this.getActivity());
    } catch (GooglePlayServicesNotAvailableException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

    // Updates the location and zoom of the MapView
    CameraUpdate cameraUpdate = CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(new LatLng(43.1, -87.9), 10);
    map.animateCamera(cameraUpdate);

    return v;
}

@Override
public void onResume() {
    mapView.onResume();
    super.onResume();
}

@Override
public void onPause() {
    super.onPause();
    mapView.onPause();
}

@Override
public void onDestroy() {
    super.onDestroy();
    mapView.onDestroy();
}

@Override
public void onLowMemory() {
    super.onLowMemory();
    mapView.onLowMemory();
}
}

Then a manifest like this:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.example"
android:versionCode="1"
android:versionName="1.0" >

<uses-sdk
    android:minSdkVersion="8"
    android:targetSdkVersion="15" />

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"/>

<uses-feature
    android:glEsVersion="0x00020000"
    android:required="true"/>

<permission
    android:name="com.example.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"
    android:protectionLevel="signature"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.example.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"/>

<application
    android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >

    <meta-data
        android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY"
        android:value="your_key"/>

    <activity
        android:name=".HomeActivity"
        android:label="@string/app_name" >
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>

</application>

</manifest>

Then some layout, like:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent" >

<com.google.android.gms.maps.MapView android:id="@+id/mapview"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
    android:layout_height="fill_parent" />

</LinearLayout>

In your case a RelativeLayout.

Check this link for all the details: How to use MapView in android using google map V2?

You will choose your latitude and longitude values and you will see the red Google maps style pointer!