I've read Google's API policy on Location Services & Maps API, they do not allow one to make an app that provides directions to a user's location. I however wish to make such an app. I know I need to use a third party Maps API, but im unsure if this sort of app would be allowed on the play store.
I've searched extensively. The only references to this not being allowed in the the Maps API terms of service, but no where else. +
The idea is simple, one person sends a request to another, and they track each other with directions provided to find them.
Revalent reddit post by myself.
http://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/2qcm22/would_i_get_in_trouble_w_googles_policys_if_i/
I do not understand that it is difficult , you can use Google maps , first try to get another exact coordinates of latitude and longitude , and put them on a Google map , then make getting location via satellite.
Related
Actually I have lots of questions. I am developing a GPS device which gets the longitude and latitude location coordinates. Do I need any internet module? Can I use the device without any internet connection? Also, is it possible to get the coordinates and display it on my Application via Google Maps? Thank you for the help.
If you use the device's embedded GPS, you can get the longitude and latitude with no problem, without having any Internet access.
You can then use those coordinates however you'd like, so yes on Google Maps for example. Nevertheless, if you plan to use a Google Maps online API (for instance, the JavaScript API) you'll need an Internet connection to download and display the map. But there should be a way to use pre-downloaded maps offline, you will surely find it in the Google Maps API reference : https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/
You can also take a look at some other mapping service providers (OpenStreetMap is one of the most used in replacement of Google Maps).
Sorry for not bringing a very precise answer concerning offline maps, but I hope this will help you with your issue :)
EDIT
It appears that it isn't possible to legally use the Google Maps API without an Internet Connection, according to Google Maps' Terms of Service
I would like to find an API that allows me to pull a client's current location. I know Google Places and FourSquare have API's available. Basically, I want it to run at all times, as I am eventually going to create a dating app that allows you to see who is at a current bar/restaurant/social setting at any given time.
The fetch for the current location will obviously have to be running at all times, and there are considerations of using too many client resources. With that being said, what are some of my options?
Yes, you can use the Google Places API for this: PlaceDetectionApi.getCurrentPlace(). See https://developers.google.com/places/android-api/current-place (and the Getting Started guide).
I was trying to work on creating a shared map for all users by using the Google Maps API. I would like User A to be able to see User B on the map, assuming User B is sharing his location. How can this be accomplished using Google Maps API on Android or iOS? This would basically resemble the Uber application where the costumers can see the drivers on the map.
As far as I know this functionality isn't really available through the API. What you could do is check if the user's location is available for sharing. Then using your own backend, most likely a MBaaS, share the location data with people they allowed access to their location. Then you could just draw a marker on the map representing the user
According to this Google document there are limits on using Distance matrix web service.
From the document :
Use of the Distance Matrix API must relate to the display of information on a
Google Map.Use of the service in an application that doesn't display a Google map
is prohibited.
I am not clear whether I meet this limit or not.
Let me explain how I use this web service. I call this api from server to get distance between locations. Using this distance I just decide that user1's entered location is near to user2's entered location or not. I don't use this information to display on google map. But at client side I display google maps with marker for user's entered location and markers for nearby users' location.
Using web service and google maps this way, do I satisfy the above mentioned limit?
Note : I also call direction web service at client-side to display routes on map.
MAPS API
Your usage is fine. I think the whole point of the Google guidelines you quoted above are to stop people using the distance matrix and other Google Maps APIs (without a Google MAPS API business account) from using it outside of any "app" scope for financial gain or in situations where there is a simpler solution that doesn't require their API. (I will get to this soon)
This is also the reason they impose lower limits on the numbers of API calls you can make per day when using a free Google Maps key:
Normal - 2 500 elements per 24 hour period.
Business - 100 000 elements per 24 hour period.
I've used many of the Google maps API services on free accounts across a broad range of applications, some that match the scenario you have state above, others that do not. We have never had a problem at all and as long as people use the API fairly, they shouldn't either.
Other ways
There are other ways of doing what you require. You could calculate the distance between the two locations using the Haversine Foruma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine_formula
and then send this distance down to your app upon request. This would remove the need for the Distance Matrix API in some circumstances (I'm unsure how indepth your App and Web Services actually are).
Why not instead use straight line distance between two points?
Try to find something similar to Android's Location.distanceBetween in the language you use for your server or just port the code from Android.
I have developed an application for my company to track the work done by our agency people and also their location to capture the work places. As we don't want the agency people to browse other website, with the help of network providers we have restricted other websites and allowed only two URL where we run the webservice to store the information captured to the database. But since Android talks to google to get the location we also need map the maps.googleapis.com but when we tried it's not working. Can anyone tell me which URL we should map/whitelist to allow my application to access the google. Thanks
i would think u would get coordinates regardless of internet connectivity. of course i could be wrong. are you sure you added permissions for location services in the manifest. i know i have tested gps apps without internet enabled (emulator though). of course the map wont load but coords should be able to be read from the gps receiver.
If you're talking about getting your current location, then you should use LocationManager(search on SO or google, there are lots of posts about it). Otherweise you can take a look at the Developer Guide for Google Maps, but I'm not sure if Android even uses the same API, though.
Or you can only retrieve the coordinates from the devices to your database/server and you'll have the map and with the coordinates you'll know where are they. That would not need a map in the application, and no need for whitelisting the urls. This is another idea, though.