1page.title=Location and Maps 2@jd:body 3 4<div id="qv-wrapper"> 5<div id="qv"> 6 7 <h2>Quickview</h2> 8 <ul> 9 <li>Android provides a location framework that your application can use to determine the 10device's location and bearing and register for updates</li> 11 <li>A Google Maps external library is available that lets you display and manage Maps data</li> 12 </ul> 13 14 <h2>Topics</h2> 15 <ol> 16 <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/location/obtaining-user-location.html">Obtaining User 17Location</a></li> 18 </ol> 19 20 <h2>See Also</h2> 21 <ol> 22 <li><a 23href="http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis/maps-overview.html">Google 24Maps External Library »</a></li> 25 </ol> 26</div> 27</div> 28 29<p>Location and maps-based applications are compelling for mobile device users. You 30can build these capabilities into your applications using the classes of the {@link 31android.location} package and the Google Maps external library. The sections below provide details. 32</p> 33 34<h2 id="location">Location Services</h2> 35 36<p>Android gives your applications access to the location services supported by 37the device through the classes in the {@code android.location} package. The 38central component of the location framework is the 39{@link android.location.LocationManager} system service, which provides APIs to 40determine location and bearing of the underlying device (if available). </p> 41 42<p>As with other system services, you do not instantiate a {@link android.location.LocationManager} 43directly. Rather, you request an instance from the system by calling 44{@link android.content.Context#getSystemService(String) 45getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE)}. The method returns a handle to a new {@link 46android.location.LocationManager} instance.</p> 47 48<p>Once your application has a {@link android.location.LocationManager}, your application 49is able to do three things:</p> 50 51<ul> 52 <li>Query for the list of all {@link android.location.LocationProvider}s for the last known 53user location.</li> 54 <li>Register/unregister for periodic updates of the user's current location from a 55 location provider (specified either by criteria or name).</li> 56 <li>Register/unregister for a given {@link android.content.Intent} to be fired if the device 57comes within a given proximity (specified by radius in meters) of a given lat/long.</li> 58</ul> 59 60<p>For more information, read the guide to <a 61href="{@docRoot}guide/topics/location/obtaining-user-location.html">Obtaining User 62Location</a>.</p> 63 64 65<h2 id="maps">Google Maps External Library</h2> 66 67<p>To make it easier for you to add powerful mapping capabilities to your 68application, Google provides a Maps external library that includes the 69com.google.android.maps package. The classes of the com.google.android.maps 70package offer built-in downloading, rendering, and caching of Maps tiles, as 71well as a variety of display options and controls. </p> 72 73<p>The key class in the Maps package is 74<code>com.google.android.maps.MapView</code>, a subclass of 75{@link android.view.ViewGroup ViewGroup}. A MapView displays a map with data obtained 76from the Google Maps service. When the MapView has focus, it will capture 77keypresses and touch gestures to pan and zoom the map automatically, including 78handling network requests for additional maps tiles. It also provides all of the 79UI elements necessary for users to control the map. Your application can also 80use MapView class methods to control the MapView programmatically and draw a 81number of Overlay types on top of the map. </p> 82 83<p>In general, the MapView class provides a wrapper around the Google Maps API 84that lets your application manipulate Google Maps data through class methods, 85and it lets you work with Maps data as you would other types of Views.</p> 86 87<p>The Maps external library is not part of the standard Android library, so it 88may not be present on some compliant Android-powered devices. Similarly, the 89Maps external library is not included in the standard Android library provided 90in the SDK. So that you can develop using the classes of the 91com.google.android.maps package, the Maps external library is made available to 92you as part of the Google APIs add-on for the Android SDK. </p> 93 94<p>To learn more about the Maps external library and how to download and use the 95Google APIs add-on, visit</p> 96 97<p style="margin-left:2em;"><a 98href="http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis">http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis</a></p> 99 100<p>For your convenience, the Google APIs add-on is also available as a downloadable component from 101the Android SDK and AVD Manager (see <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/adding-components.html">Adding SDK 102Components</a>).</p> 103 104<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> In order to display Google Maps data in a 105MapView, you must register with the Google Maps service and obtain a Maps API 106Key. For information about how to get a Maps API Key, see <a 107href="http://code.google.com/android/add-ons/google-apis/mapkey.html">Obtaining 108a Maps API Key</a>.</p> 109 110