I'm an Android platform newbie looking to port some of my Windows
Phone 7 mapping apps over here. My WP7 apps use Bing Maps which has
current maps and POI data.
I went to the Android Developers Resources center where it shows how
to develop an app using the Google Maps Library. I did that and
noticed that the maps were over 7 years old.
I posted that issue on the google groups forum and was told that Google had
apparently given up on that library. (Strange that they still feature
it in their developer resources site.)
So, if they have given up on that library, is there another library
they haven't given up on? It seems odd that Google would give up on
Google Maps (bad strategy).
What tools, libraries, etc. should an android developer use that wants
to write compelling mapping applications that can show maps, POIs, directions that use current
maps and data?
Thanks
Gary
Bing maps are not up to date ( I tested them and I can see a building that has over 3 years and still doesnt appear on bing maps). Alternatively to Google Maps, you could use Ovi Maps or your own custom maps.
My original post here was from my experience writing the android "HelloGoogleMaps" application and running it in the emulator. I navigated to my own location and saw that my whold track where I live was still natural land. This made me think that the Google Maps were way out of date. This was the general feeling of some other developers on another forum. I went to online Google Maps on the web and my tract was there so this made me think it was the MapView software that was out of date.
Today, I went back to that HeloGoogleMaps application, and again navigated back to my tract and it was there! I don't know what happened but the map is up-to-date now.
Sorry for the bogus post.
Gary
Related
I'm currently using Google maps API and directions API for getting routes, however there is a limitation upto 2500 requests per day. so while searching for a way, got confused after i came across this link..
Google Maps Mobile SDK for Business: Android
Can anyone please explain the difference between this sdk and google maps API..?
its basically a software development kit that makes use of the google maps api and helps you in development of apps that use those apis... if request limitation is an issue try other opensource apis like argcis or tomtom etc
In order to use the individual SDK such as map, you would require a key. That key is persistent, meaning once you have one, you can keep using that same key in your app manifest, regardless of how many copies of the same app you have.
However, there is a daily limit imposed on how much keys can be requested per day from google to prevent abuse. With that said, I don't think you would have a problem of requesting one. If it is given out for today, just wait till tomorrow and the limit would be refreshed.
As for the Enterprise version, you get more support over the normal version. The main differences is that you get the Business SDK as a static library rather than one using the Google Play Services. That is all.
Is it possible to develop an application for Android and iOS that uses offline maps with routes and use GPS to navigate on them? (On foot and vehicle)
I found another answers but the question that is still in my head is, is it possible to user Google Maps or Apple Maps for this?
I also tried to search for a good 3rd party service that gives me what i want, but still nothing.
Regards,Elkas
You can't use Google Map for offline usage. It's against TOS (Terms Of Service)
(any caching or downloading of google maps is against Google Map TOS)
and is illegal.
You can use OpenStreetMaps(OSM) and a map serving service like Mapbox. OSM uses open mapping data that has been provided by users and other contributors and is free to use. With mapbox you can host your maps online but you can also store maps offline. With Mapbox Studio you can custom design your maps to create the kinds of visual hierarchy, affordances, and brand standards that your app needs.
Check out these links for more details:
http://mapbox.com and
http://openstreetmap.org
Also Mapbox uses a pretty straight forward API and lots of documentation. Implementation into IOS is also very easy and you can almost just copy/paste to Xcode (almost).
I wonder if we can get the same behavior and performance in own Andorid app with Google map? If you are using SDK (native development) the performance is diff to what you can experience while using last Google map from Android market. Are there any tips on it? I really like this smooth maps display while scroll up\down and labeling of street names, etc.
No you cannot get same performance while displaying maps in your own application. There are a couple of reasons for it:
Firstly, the code that google uses is different and they are google if you know what I mean.
Your application uses google play services while google maps by google doesnot.
I wonder if we can get the same behavior and performance in own Andorid app with Google map?
Probably not. The Google Maps application does not use the same code base as does the Google Maps add-on for Android.
#Urban's point is very valid -- the more stuff you do in overlays, the slower things will be. An ItemizedOverlay with 100+ points, for example, will definitely be felt.
But if you create an app using the Google Maps add-on without any overlays, the experience you see there is as fast as you are going to get. Overlays of any sort will only make things slower.
Does anyone know where I can find the open street maps api for android?
I have searched the site and all I can see is other peoples implementations of it.
I'm looking for one which can be integrated into another app and fully customized.
You can integrate OSM by using the Osmdroid API. This gives you functionality very similar to Google maps but you can also use OSM tiles offline if you prepare the tiles with Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC)
See Osmdroid home page (GitHub)
You just need the osmdroid-android-3.0.5.jar in your build path. You don't need an API key like Google demands and tiles get cached, so next time you visit that location you save on data download costs/time.
It's got a few tiny bugs, but overall it's pretty good
If you are going for a commercial app them it's worth taking a look at "commercial grade Android SDKs" - all vendors allow you to customise your app (depending on the vendor, the degree of customisation may vary), and I believe all vendors have "free tiers" (payment plans where you actually don't have to pay :) ) that might be good enough for your app (or at least you don't have to pay until your app is commercially successful).
To name a couple Android SDK providers:
skobbler (now Telenav) has an SDK which is able to render maps & display turn by turn navigation on your Android phone. It also supports offline mode. Check out their developer platform for details
OsmSharp also does map rendering and turn by turn navigation. You can pull their code from github
MapQuest has a nice map & routing engine for Android. I think you could also use their routing service with Mapbox maps (see this as a starting point). I don't think they can do offline mode
I am looking to create an app where users can download a map to their phone before they go to a specific place (in case there is no 3G signal there) and then use GPS to take specific routes that will have been marked on the maps.
I have noticed GoogleMaps 5 has just been released that enables caching.
Is this something I would be able to use or can you not incorporate google maps 5 into another app.
I am very new to Android and am not quite sure what can and can't be done as yet so 'm sorry if
this is a really silly question?
Thanks for any help!
Bex
Is this something I would be able to use or can you not incorporate google maps 5 into another app.
Google Maps (the app) does not use the same Google Maps (the SDK add-on) that the rest of us use. Hence, right now, offline caching is not available to us.
You might consider looking at OpenStreetMap, which has some Android integration and supports offline maps.