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Release Notes for Maps Android API Premium Plan

December 20, 2018

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved another issue where apps would crash when trying to load a map (Issue 120507393). You should use this release (version 2.34.2) instead of the November 22 release (version 2.34.1) or the November 1 release (version 2.34.0).

Notes

  • The new dependencies and updated compileSdkVersion as noted below for the November 22 release are still required.

November 22, 2018

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved an issue where apps would crash when trying to load a map (Issue 119727875). You should use this release (version 2.34.1) instead of the November 1 release (version 2.34.0).

Notes

  • New dependencies: You need to add these new dependencies to your app's build.gradle file:

    implementation 'com.android.support:support-v4:+'
implementation 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:+'
implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-basement:15.0.1'
implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:15.0.1'

  • You should also set compileSdkVersion to the latest version (currently 28) in your app's build.gradle.

See the getting-started guide for full configuration instructions.

November 1, 2018

Features

  • Added the UiSettings.setScrollGesturesEnabledDuringRotateOrZoom(boolean) and the UiSettings.isScrollGesturesEnabledDuringRotateOrZoom() methods, allowing you to set a preference for whether scroll gestures can take place at the same time as a zoom or rotate gesture. If enabled, users can scroll the map while rotating or zooming the map. If disabled, the map cannot be scrolled while the user rotates or zooms the map using gestures. This setting doesn't disable scroll gestures entirely, only during rotation and zoom gestures, nor does it restrict programmatic movements and animation of the camera.

Resolved Issues

  • Resolved a StackOverflowError that occurred when viewing areas with many indoor buildings. (Issue 35829548)
  • Resolved a bug where POI icons were hidden when a custom style that specified icon saturation was applied. (Issue 65660536)

Old Style Removed - November 1, 2018

Features

  • Removed support for the old basemap style. The opt-in and opt-out API options in the AndroidManifest.xml (see below) are no longer supported. This applies to all versions of the Maps SDK for Android. See the blog post for more information about the new style.

New Style Enabled by Default - June 14, 2018

Features

  • Enabled the new basemap style by default. You can still opt-out temporarily if you need time to modify your app to accommodate the new style. If you do, please follow Issue 72780606 which contains the timeline for end of support of the previous basemap style. We will be posting updates there as they are available.

    To opt-out, add the following tag to your AndroidManifest.xml file, within the <application> tag. The device must have at least Google Play Services version 12.0.0 in order for the opt-out to work. If you had previously opted-in to the new basemap style, this opt-out tag should replace the opt-in tag. See the blog post for more information about the new style.

    <meta-data android:name="com.google.android.m4b.maps.API_OPTIONS"
    android:value="B3H9HE845CFHYG"/>

New Style Opt-In - April 12, 2018

Features

  • Enabled opt-in for the new basemap style. To opt-in, add the following tag to your AndroidManifest.xml file, within the <application> tags. The device must have at least Google Play Services version 12.0.0 in order for the opt-in to work. See the blog post for more information about the new style.

    <meta-data android:name="com.google.android.m4b.maps.API_OPTIONS"
    android:value="B3MWHUG2MR0DQW"/>

April 12, 2018

Features

  • Added a mechanism for developers to enable experimental features.

March 20, 2018

Features

  • When setting the position of a Street View Panorama, you can now provide a StreetViewSource allowing the search to be restricted to outdoor-only results. Note this feature is experimental and some searches may still include indoor panoramas. For details, see the guide to Street View.

Resolved Issues

November 6, 2017

Features

  • This release expands the custom styling capabilities for polylines and for the outlines of polygons and circles in lite mode, to match the full API, by adding support for stroke patterns, joint types and caps. See examples in the tutorial on adding polygons and polylines to represent areas and routes.

September 18, 2017

Features

Use the new GoogleMap.OnMyLocationClickListener to detect when the user clicks the My Location blue dot. (Issue 35822305)

@Override
public void onMyLocationClick(@NonNull Location location) {
  Toast.makeText(this, "Current location:\n" + location, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}

For details, see the guide to the My Location layer.

July 28, 2017

Resolved Issues

  • DexException: play-services-basement-11.0.2 google-maps-sdk-m4b-2.28.0 occurring in projects that depend on firebase-messaging and google-maps-sdk-m4b (Issue 63931524)
  • IllegalArgumentException: totalAngleRad must be >= 0.0f and <= 2*PI: -2.9516223E-4 occurring when you apply joint type ROUND in polyline options. (Issue 36777405)

June 7, 2017

Resolved Issues

  • There was an issue where the Google map did not appear on devices with Android 7.x Nougat, when users increased the display size on their device. (See information about display size settings in Android N.) This issue is now fixed. (Issue 37538038)

February 15, 2017

Features

  • This release introduces custom styling for polylines and for the outlines of polygons and circles. Change the stroke pattern from a solid line (default) to your choice of dashes, dots, and gaps. In polylines and polygons, you can specify a bevel or round joint type to replace the default fixed miter joints. You can also change the cap at each end of a polyline from a butt (default) to a square or round cap, or specify a custom bitmap to be used as the cap. The styling of stroke patterns, joint types and start/end caps is available in the full API but not in lite mode. See examples in the tutorial on adding polygons and polylines to represent areas and routes. (Issues 4633, 4787, 4884)
  • You can now store arbitrary data objects with your geometry objects. For example, call setTag() to add a data object to a polyline. Similar methods are available for polylines, polygons, circles and ground overlays, as well as the already-existing setTag() and getTag() methods on markers. (Issue 10306)

Resolved Issues

  • java.lang.IllegalStateException: LruCache does not have a sizeOf implementation for: null. (Issue 8211)
  • OutOfMemoryError while zooming or panning the map. (Issue 5621)
  • NPE on MapView#onCreate. (Issue 10878)
  • Seeing Suppressed StrictMode policy violation in the logs (partially fixed). (Issue 11077)
  • Unable to remove Guava from google-maps-sdk-m4b aar. (Issue 10246)

October 24, 2016

Resolved Issues

  • Circle filling flickers on fast update of circle radius and center. (Issue 5707)
  • Crash if Google Play app is not available. (Issue 4862)
  • Calling Marker.showInfoWindow() in onMarkerClick(Marker) and returning true causes Marker.isInfoWindowShown to still return false on subsequent marker clicks. (Issue 5408)
  • Poor performance when app memory footprint is large. (Issue 5445)
  • StrictMode violations shown in log. (Issue 10170)
  • Warning when building and installing m4b build: Ignoring InnerClasses attribute for an anonymous inner class. (Issue 10050)

Notes

September 21, 2016

Features

  • This release introduces custom styling of the base map. (Issue 5463.) You can pass a JSON style declaration to your MapStyleOptions, changing the visual display of features like roads, parks, businesses, and other points of interest. This means that you can emphasize particular components of the map or make the map complement the style of your app. Custom styling is available for maps with a map type of normal.

  • The new Maps Platform Styling Wizard provides a quick way to generate a JSON style declaration for your map. The Maps SDK for Android supports the same style declarations as the Maps JavaScript API.

  • Business points of interest (POIs) now appear by default on the map, provided the map type is normal. (Prior to this release, local POIs appeared on the map, but not business POIs.) Business POIs represent businesses such as shops, restaurants, hotels, and more. See the guide to points of interest.

  • You can respond to click events on a POI.

Resolved Issues

  • Getting warning Google Maps Android API: GLHudOverlay deprecated; draw(): no-op. (Issue 10201)
  • Client must have ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission to request PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY locations. (Issue 10166)
  • Android Nougat developer preview: MapView blank when resized in Multi Window mode and not focused. (Issue 213354)
  • Warnings when building and installing the Premium Plan (m4b) build. (Issue 10050)

Notes

  • Forwarding of lifecycle methods: If you're using the MapView class, and the API is in fully interactive mode rather than lite mode, your app must forward the following activity lifecycle methods to the corresponding methods in the MapView class: onCreate(), onStart(), onResume(), onPause(), onStop(), onDestroy(), onSaveInstanceState(), and onLowMemory(). Prior to this release, there was no need to forward onStart() and onStop(), but when you recompile your app with the new release, it's essential to forward them too. See the documentation for details.

  • Improvements to the Premium Plan SDK package:

    • A top-level README file describing the package contents.
    • The top-level directory renamed to maps_for_business_sdk, making it easier to update existing libraries manually.
    • Various improvements to the documentation and file comments, including clarified comments about permissions in AndroidManifest.xml.
    • Corrected name release_m4b.jar in .release-classpath.
    • Removed reference to a non-existent source jar in .release-classpath.

August 1, 2016

Features

  • This release introduces a set of new camera change listeners for camera motion start, ongoing, and end events. You can also see why the camera is moving, whether it's caused by user gestures, built-in API animations or developer-controlled movements. Below is a summary of the new listeners. For details, see the guide to camera change events. (Issue 4636)

    • The onCameraMoveStarted() callback of the OnCameraMoveStartedListener is invoked when the camera starts moving. The callback method receives a reason for the camera motion.
    • The onCameraMove() callback of the OnCameraMoveListener is invoked multiple times while the camera is moving or the user is interacting with the touch screen.
    • The OnCameraIdle() callback of the OnCameraIdleListener is invoked when the camera stops moving and the user has stopped interacting with the map.
    • The OnCameraMoveCanceled() callback of the OnCameraMoveCanceledListener is invoked when the current camera movement has been interrupted.

  • You can store an arbitrary data object with a marker using Marker.setTag(), and retrieve the data object using Marker.getTag(). For details, see the guide to associating data with a marker. (Issue 4650)

  • With GoogleMap.setMinZoomPreference() and GoogleMap.setMaxZoomPreference() you can set a preferred minimum and/or maximum zoom level. This is useful, for example, if your app shows a defined area around a point of interest, or if you're using a custom tile overlay with a limited set of zoom levels. For details, see the guide to setting minimum/maximum zoom preferences. (Issue 4663)

  • With GoogleMap.setLatLngBoundsForCameraTarget(), you can constrain the lat/lng centre bounds of the focal point of the map (the camera target) so that users can only scroll and pan within these bounds. For example, a retail app for a shopping centre or airport may want to constrain the map to a particular bounds, allowing users to scroll and pan within those bounds. For details, see the guide to restricting the user's panning to a given area.

Improvements and Resolved Issues

  • Marker icon anchor breaks with Google Play services 9.0.83. (Issue 9768)
  • ActivityNotFoundException when Google Map is uninstalled/deactivated. (Issue 9483)

Notes

  • The OnCameraChangeListener is deprecated in favour of the new listeners described above - that is, OnCameraMoveStartedListener, OnCameraMoveListener, OnCameraMoveCanceledListener and OnCameraIdleListener.

July 14, 2016

  • There are no functional changes in this release. The new library download fixes a packaging bug that caused duplicate file exceptions when depending on recent releases of the Google Play services SDK.

June 29, 2016

Features

Resolved Issues

  • NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke virtual method boolean java.io.File.mkdir() on a null object reference. (Issue 9021)
  • NullPointerException: Attempt to invoke interface method java.util.Iterator java.util.List.iterator() on a null object reference at com.google.maps.api.android.lib6.d.ei.a(). (Issue 9008)
  • Calling Marker.setIcon() with resource id on marker outside view makes the marker white. (Issue 9765)
  • Setting icon for google map markers will sometimes cause a flicker. (Issue 8531)
  • Calling Marker.setIcon() causes info window to disappear. (Issue 5419)
  • Marker stops dragging if icon is changed in onMarkerDragStart event. (Issue 5932)
  • Info window no longer highlights on touch when implementing custom InfoWindowAdapter. (Issue 7809)
  • Polylines drawn incorrectly in certain cases. (Issue 5313)
  • Strange behaviour drawing polyline. (Issue 5123)
  • Polylines which venture near the poles are drawn incorrectly. (Issue 9176)
  • NullPointerException when clicking directions toolbar button. (Issue 8817)
  • Possible explicit call to the System.gc() in GoogleMap.getProjection().toScreenLocation(). (Issue 6483)
  • When using SupportMapFragment, the API leaks memory on screen rotation until the map is loaded for the current zoom level. (Issue 5905)
  • GoogleMap.animateCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLngZoom(LatLng,zoom)) messes up the zoom if cancelled. (Issue 6947)

Notes

  • The previously-deprecated getMap() function is no longer available in the SDK. (It is still available in the Google Play services APK that is delivered to Android devices.) The getMap() function has been deprecated since December 2014. See the release blog post for help with converting from getMap() to getMapAsync().
  • Deprecation notice: In a future release, indoor maps will only be available on normal type maps. From that future release, indoor maps will not be supported on satellite, terrain or hybrid maps. Even where indoor is not supported, isIndoorEnabled() will continue to return the value that has been set via setIndoorEnabled(), as it does now. By default, setIndoorEnabled is true. Subscribe to these release notes for a notification of each release.

February 11, 2016

Features

This release introduces a number of new event listeners:

Resolved Issues

  • Zoom into maximum level when info window is double tapped. (Issue 4640)
  • Android maps v2 marker infowindow RTL text problem. (Issue 5608)
  • Correct tiles generated by TileProvider but rendered solid white on the map. (Issue 8084)
  • Memory leak. (Issue 8696)
  • Turning on the my location layer leaks the Activity. (Issue 8111)

Notes

  • Google Maps Engine was discontinued at the end of January 2016. For that reason, the MapsEngineLayer class has been removed from the Maps SDK for Android. For more details, see the Google Maps Engine information page.

November 12, 2015

Notes

  • If you're targeting version 8.3 or later of the Google Play services SDK, you no longer need the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission to use the Maps SDK for Android. For details, see the configuration guide.
  • All the code samples for the Maps SDK for Android are now available on GitHub. Note that the samples use the com.google.android.gms.maps package, not the com.google.android.m4b.maps used with the Google Maps Platform Premium Plan. The samples also require the Google Play services SDK, as they use the Location APIs for parts of the demo.

October 1, 2015

Features

  • The Maps SDK for Android now supports ambient mode for wearable apps. Ambient mode is for always on apps, and is activated when the user is no longer actively using the app, allowing the app to remain visible on the wearable device. The Maps SDK for Android provides a simplified, low-color rendering of the map. This mode reduces the power consumption of your app and ensures a consistent look and feel with other ambient apps, such as watch faces.

Notes

  • Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) introduces a new model for handling permissions, which streamlines the process for users when they install and upgrade apps. If your app targets API level 23 or later, you can use the new permissions model. This is particularly important if you're using the My Location layer in the Maps SDK for Android. To learn more, see the documentation for the My Location layer.

June 23, 2015

Resolved Issues

  • Problems when running on devices that have a version of Google Play services older than 7.3.

June 2, 2015

Features

  • The Maps SDK for Android is now available on Android Wear. Create map-based apps that run directly on wearable devices.

Resolved Issues

  • Problems rendering a map in a MapView when setting the zOrderOnTop property to true or when embedding a MapView in a scrollable container. (Issue 7936)
  • Map toolbar always visible in lite mode, even if disabled. (Issue 7947)

May 5, 2015

Features

  • A new interface, StreetViewPanorama.OnStreetViewPanoramaLongClickListener, supports long-clicking (tapping and holding down the finger) on a Street View panorama.
  • When using the MapView class in lite mode, forwarding lifecycle events is now optional, with some exceptions as noted in the documentation.
  • To disable click events on a map in lite mode, you can call setClickable() on the view that contains the MapView or MapFragment. This is useful, for example, when displaying a map or maps in a list view, where you want the click event to invoke an action unrelated to the map. For details, see the documentation.

Resolved Issues

  • showInfoWindow() now works in lite mode as well as full mode.
  • TileOverlay.clearTileCache() works as expected after returning NO_TILE. (Issue 4755)
  • The API is more selective in its logging behavior in lite mode, when reporting the functions that are not supported in lite mode. It no longer logs the default calls that are made at app startup.
  • CameraUpdateFactory is now properly initialized, so you should no longer see a NullPointerException 'CameraUpdateFactory is not initialized' after MapView.getMap() returns a valid GoogleMap. (Issue 6499)
  • App launch performance is improved, and the main thread is no longer blocked on app launch. (Issue 7532)
  • StreetViewPanoramaView no longer requests focus in onCreate(), thus no longer causing the view to scroll to make Street View visible. (Issue 7566)
  • Fixed a resource leak that showed itself in strict mode. (Issue 5992)
  • Fixed a NullPointerException that occurred with setPadding() in accessibility mode. (Issue 7619)
  • Fixed a bug crashing apps when loading an icon from an asset. (Issue 7696)

December 8, 2014

Features

  • The API offers a new lite mode. When lite mode is enabled, the API serves a bitmap image instead of a fully-interactive map. Lite mode supports all of the map types and a subset of the functionality supplied by the full API. Markers and shapes are drawn on top of the static image client-side, so you still have full control over them. A lite-mode map is useful when you want to display a number of small maps, or a map that is too small to offer meaningful interactivity.
  • A new map toolbar is available in both lite mode and full mode, and is enabled by default in both modes for apps that are recompiled against the new client library. Tapping on the toolbar opens the Google Maps mobile app, giving users quick access to directions and turn-by-turn navigation to the selected marker. In lite mode the toolbar is static, whereas in full mode it slides in when the user taps a marker. You can disable the toolbar in both modes, by calling UiSettings.setMapToolbarEnabled(false).
  • The API supports a new onMapReady() callback which you can set by calling MapView.getMapAsync() or MapFragment.getMapAsync(). The onMapReady() method is called when the map is ready to be used, and provides a non-null instance of GoogleMap. This means that you no longer need to check for a non-null map before using the map. See the guide to adding a map.
  • Similarly, you can now use StreetViewPanoramaView.getStreetViewPanoramaAsync() or StreetViewPanoramaFragment.getStreetViewPanoramaAsync() to get a ready-to-use Street View panorama. See the documentation.

Resolved Issues

  • GoogleMap.CancelableCallback() now behaves correctly when animating/moving the camera. (Issue 5208)
  • The visible region's LatLngBounds are now calculated correctly in landscape mode. (Issue 5285)
  • A marker performance regression is fixed. (Issue 7174)
  • The problem with arrowhead shapes in triangulating convex quadrilaterals is fixed. (Issue 6197 - the initial problem reported is now fixed)

Notes

  • getMap() is deprecated in favour of the new getMapAsync(), described above. Similarly, getStreetViewPanorama() is deprecated in favor of the new getStreetViewPanoramaAsync().
  • For apps that are recompiled against the new client library, the map's zoom controls are disabled by default. Up to this release, they have been enabled by default. You can still enable and disable them by calling UiSettings.setZoomControlsEnabled().

October 16, 2014

May 13, 2014

  • Added Street View for embedding and controlling panoramic 360-degree views.
  • Added functionality to indoor maps so that you can respond to indoor and level change events, and replace the level picker with your own. (Issue 5939)
  • Improved accessibility features across various embedded controls.
  • Enabled the rendering of Chinese characters on Maps Engine Layer infocards.

May 6, 2014

Features

  • Support for Google Maps Engine Layers. Add Google Maps Engine layers as interactive Tile Overlays with the new MapsEngineLayer class.

January 2014

Features

  • Added a fadeIn flag to TileOverlayOptions to toggle the fade-in of tiles.

Resolved issues

  • Failed API key authentication attempts are no longer cached. (Issue 6099)

October 2013

Features

  • Added a setImage method to the GroundOverlay class that allows you to change the image of a ground overlay. (Issue 4847)
  • Added an alpha option and setAlpha method to markers. (Issue 4768)
  • Added a setOnMapLoadedCallback method to the GoogleMap class. onMapLoaded is called when the map has completely finished rendering. (Issue 5779)
  • Added a setBuildingsEnabled method to the GoogleMap class. Buildings are still enabled by default. (Issue 5550)
  • The Google logo has been updated.

Resolved issues

  • CameraPosition returned in a OnCameraChangeListener now respects map padding. (Issue 5844)
  • GroundOverlay.setPositionFromBounds now redraws the ground overlay.

September 2013

Features

  • Added a setPadding method to the GoogleMap class that allows you to indicate parts of the map that may be obscured by other views. Setting padding re-positions the standard map controls, and camera updates will use the padded region. (Issue 4670, Issue 5321)
  • Added the LatLngBounds.getCenter method. (Issue 4664)
  • Added methods to Marker:

Resolved issues

  • GooglePlayServicesUtil.getErrorDialog always returns a dialog, except when Google Play services is available. (Issue 4720)

August 2013

Features

  • Initial release.