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Create an advanced marker

Select platform: Android iOS JavaScript

To add advanced markers to a map, create a new instance of AdvancedMarkerOptions and then use GoogleMap.addMarker() to add the marker:

Kotlin

private val SYDNEY = LatLng(-33.87365, 151.20689)

val marker: Marker? = map.addMarker(
    AdvancedMarkerOptions()
        .position(SYDNEY)
        .iconView(textView)
        .zIndex(zIndex)
)

Java

private final LatLng SYDNEY = new LatLng(-33.87365, 151.20689);

Marker marker = map.addMarker(
    new AdvancedMarkerOptions()
        .position(SYDNEY)
        .iconView(textView)
        .zIndex(zIndex));

GoogleMap.addMarker() returns an instance of Marker. If necessary, you can cast the returned value to AdvancedMarker.

Use AdvancedMarkerOptions to configure advanced markers. AdvancedMarkerOptions is a subclass of MarkerOptions so it supports all the same settings as MarkerOptions.

AdvancedMarkerOptions also lets you:

Create an instance of the PinConfig class, and then use the PinConfig instance to configure the AdvancedMarkerOptions instance.

Use PinConfig to customize advanced marker properties, such as the background color, border color, and glyph.
Create an instance of the Android View class and use that instance to configure the AdvancedMarkerOptions instance.

The View instance lets you fully customize the marker.

Use PinConfig

The PinConfig class contains options to customize advanced markers. Use PinConfig to:

Change the background color
Change the border color
Change the glyph color or add text
Hide the glyph

A diagram showing the parts of an Advanced Marker. — **Figure 1**: The parts of an Advanced Marker.

Use PinConfig.Builder to create an instance of PinConfig:

Kotlin

// Use PinConfig.Builder to create an instance of PinConfig.
val pinConfigBuilder: PinConfig.Builder = PinConfig.builder()
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA)
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

// Use the  PinConfig instance to set the icon for AdvancedMarkerOptions.
val advancedMarkerOptions: AdvancedMarkerOptions = AdvancedMarkerOptions()
    .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromPinConfig(pinConfig))
    .position(MARKER_POSITION)

// Pass the AdvancedMarkerOptions instance to addMarker().
val marker: Marker? = map.addMarker(advancedMarkerOptions)

Java

// Use PinConfig.Builder to create an instance of PinConfig.
PinConfig.Builder pinConfigBuilder = PinConfig.builder();
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA);
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

// Use the  PinConfig instance to set the icon for AdvancedMarkerOptions.
AdvancedMarkerOptions advancedMarkerOptions =
    new AdvancedMarkerOptions()
        .icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromPinConfig(pinConfig))
        .position(MARKER_POSITION);

// Pass the AdvancedMarkerOptions instance to addMarker().
Marker marker = map.addMarker(advancedMarkerOptions);

Change the background color

Use the PinConfig.background() method to change the background color of a marker:

Kotlin

// Use PinConfig.Builder to create an instance of PinConfig.
val pinConfigBuilder: PinConfig.Builder = PinConfig.builder()
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA)
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

// Use PinConfig.Builder to create an instance of PinConfig.
PinConfig.Builder pinConfigBuilder = PinConfig.builder();
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA);
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Change the border color

Use the PinConfig.borderColor() method to change the border color of a marker:

Kotlin

// Set the border color.
val pinConfigBuilder: PinConfig.Builder = PinConfig.builder()
pinConfigBuilder.setBorderColor(Color.BLUE)
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

// Set the border color.
PinConfig.Builder pinConfigBuilder = PinConfig.builder();
pinConfigBuilder.setBorderColor(Color.BLUE);
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Change the glyph

Create a Glyph instance and then use that instance to configure PinConfig. Use the glyph to set the glyph text and text color, the glyph color, or to specify a custom image to use as the glyph.

The following example sets the glyph text:

Kotlin

// Set the glyph text.
val pinConfigBuilder: PinConfig.Builder = PinConfig.builder()
val glyphText = Glyph("A")

// Alteratively, you can set the text color:
// Glyph glyphText = new Glyph("A", Color.GREEN);

pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(glyphText)
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

// Set the glyph text.
PinConfig.Builder pinConfigBuilder = PinConfig.builder();
PinConfig.Glyph glyphText = new PinConfig.Glyph("A");

// Alternatively, you can set the text color:
// PinConfig.Glyph glyphText = new PinConfig.Glyph("A", Color.GREEN);

pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(glyphText);
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Set the glyph color:

Kotlin

val glyphColor = PinConfig.Glyph(Color.BLUE)
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(glyphColor)
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

PinConfig.Glyph glyphColor = new PinConfig.Glyph(Color.BLUE);
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(glyphColor);
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Set a custom image for the glyph. This technique is useful if you want to use a custom logo or other visual indicator in the marker.

Kotlin

// Set the glyph image.
val glyphImage: Int = R.drawable.example_image
val descriptor = PinConfig.BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromResource(glyphImage)
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(Glyph(descriptor))
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

// Set the glyph image.
int glyphImage = R.drawable.example_image;
BitmapDescriptor descriptor = BitmapDescriptorFactory.fromResource(glyphImage);
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(new PinConfig.Glyph(descriptor));
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Hide the glyph

You can hide the glyph so that the background color fills the entire marker:

Kotlin

// Create a transparent glyph.
val pinConfigBuilder: PinConfig.Builder = PinConfig.builder()
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA)
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(PinConfig.Glyph(Color.TRANSPARENT))
val pinConfig: PinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build()

Java

// Create a transparent glyph.
PinConfig.Builder pinConfigBuilder = PinConfig.builder();
pinConfigBuilder.setBackgroundColor(Color.MAGENTA);
pinConfigBuilder.setGlyph(new PinConfig.Glyph(Color.TRANSPARENT));
PinConfig pinConfig = pinConfigBuilder.build();

Use iconView

The AdvancedMarkerOptions.iconView() method lets you use any Android View as the marker. By using a view as the marker, you have complete control over the marker.

In your app, you first create the view, then use the AdvancedMarkerOptions.iconView() method to add the view to the advanced markers.

Kotlin

// Create a TextView to use as the marker.
val textView = TextView(this)
textView.text = "Hello!!"
textView.setBackgroundColor(Color.BLACK)
textView.setTextColor(Color.YELLOW)

val marker: Marker? = map.addMarker(
    AdvancedMarkerOptions()
        .position(SYDNEY)
        .iconView(textView)
)

Java

// Create a TextView to use as the marker.
TextView textView = new TextView(this);
textView.setText("Hello!!");
textView.setBackgroundColor(Color.BLACK);
textView.setTextColor(Color.YELLOW);

Marker marker = map.addMarker(
    new AdvancedMarkerOptions()
        .position(SYDNEY)
        .iconView(textView));

Next steps:

Collision behavior