Events

Using the Maps SDK for Android, you can listen to events on the map.

Code samples

The ApiDemos repository on GitHub includes samples that demonstrates events and listeners:

Map click / long click events

If you want to respond to a user tapping on a point on the map, you can use an OnMapClickListener which you can set on the map by calling GoogleMap.setOnMapClickListener(OnMapClickListener). When a user clicks (taps) somewhere on the map, you will receive an onMapClick(LatLng) event that indicates the location on the map that the user clicked. Note that if you need the corresponding location on the screen (in pixels), you can obtain a Projection from the map which allows you to convert between latitude/longitude coordinates and screen pixel coordinates.

You can also listen for long click events with an OnMapLongClickListener which you can set on the map by calling GoogleMap.setOnMapLongClickListener(OnMapLongClickListener). This listener behaves similarly to the click listener and will be notified on long click events with an onMapLongClick(LatLng) callback.

Disabling click events in lite mode

To disable click events on a map in lite mode, 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.

The option to disable click events is available in lite mode only. Disabling click events will also make markers non-clickable. It will not affect other controls on the map.

For a MapView:

MapView view;
...
view.setClickable(false);

For a MapFragment:

MapFragment fragment;
...
fragment.getView().setClickable(false);

Camera change events

The map view is modeled as a camera looking down on a flat plane. You can change the properties of the camera to affect the zoom level, view port and perspective of the map. See the guide to the camera. Users can also affect the camera by making gestures.

Using camera change listeners, you can keep track of camera movements. Your app can receive notifications 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.

The following sample illustrates all the available camera event listeners:

public class MyCameraActivity extends FragmentActivity implements
        OnCameraMoveStartedListener,
        OnCameraMoveListener,
        OnCameraMoveCanceledListener,
        OnCameraIdleListener,
        OnMapReadyCallback {

    private GoogleMap mMap;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_my_camera);

        SupportMapFragment mapFragment =
            (SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager()
                    .findFragmentById(R.id.map);
        mapFragment.getMapAsync(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void onMapReady(GoogleMap map) {
        mMap = map;

        mMap.setOnCameraIdleListener(this);
        mMap.setOnCameraMoveStartedListener(this);
        mMap.setOnCameraMoveListener(this);
        mMap.setOnCameraMoveCanceledListener(this);

        // Show Sydney on the map.
        mMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory
                .newLatLngZoom(new LatLng(-33.87365, 151.20689), 10));
    }

    @Override
    public void onCameraMoveStarted(int reason) {

        if (reason == OnCameraMoveStartedListener.REASON_GESTURE) {
            Toast.makeText(this, "The user gestured on the map.",
                           Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        } else if (reason == OnCameraMoveStartedListener
                                .REASON_API_ANIMATION) {
            Toast.makeText(this, "The user tapped something on the map.",
                           Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        } else if (reason == OnCameraMoveStartedListener
                                .REASON_DEVELOPER_ANIMATION) {
            Toast.makeText(this, "The app moved the camera.",
                           Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onCameraMove() {
        Toast.makeText(this, "The camera is moving.",
                       Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    @Override
    public void onCameraMoveCanceled() {
        Toast.makeText(this, "Camera movement canceled.",
                       Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }

    @Override
    public void onCameraIdle() {
        Toast.makeText(this, "The camera has stopped moving.",
                       Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
    }
}

The following camera listeners are available:

  • The onCameraMoveStarted() callback of the OnCameraMoveStartedListener is invoked when the camera starts moving. The callback method receives a reason for the camera motion. The reason can be one of the following:

    • REASON_GESTURE indicates that the camera moved in response to a user's gesture on the map, such as panning, tilting, pinching to zoom, or rotating the map.
    • REASON_API_ANIMATION indicates that the API has moved the camera in response to a non-gesture user action, such as tapping the zoom button, tapping the My Location button, or clicking a marker.
    • REASON_DEVELOPER_ANIMATION indicates that your app has initiated the camera movement.

  • The onCameraMove() callback of the OnCameraMoveListener is invoked multiple times while the camera is moving or the user is interacting with the touch screen. As a guide to how often the callback is invoked, it's useful to know that the API invokes the callback once per frame. Note, however, that this callback is invoked asynchronously and is therefore out of synch with what is visible on the screen. Also note that it's possible for the camera position to remain unchanged between one onCameraMove() callback and the next.

  • 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. Immediately after the OnCameraMoveCanceled() callback, the onCameraMoveStarted() callback is invoked with the new reason.

    If your app explicitly calls GoogleMap.stopAnimation(), the OnCameraMoveCanceled() callback is invoked, but the onCameraMoveStarted() callback is not invoked.

To set a listener on the map, call the relevant set-listener method. For example, to request a callback from the OnCameraMoveStartedListener, call GoogleMap.setOnCameraMoveStartedListener().

You can get the camera's target (latitude/longitude), zoom, bearing and tilt from the CameraPosition. See the guide to camera position for details about these properties.

Events on businesses and other points of interest

By default, points of interest (POIs) appear on the base map along with their corresponding icons. POIs include parks, schools, government buildings, and more, as well as business POIs such as shops, restaurants, and hotels.

You can respond to click events on a POI. See the guide to businesses and other points of interest.

Indoor map events

You can use events to find and customize the active level of an indoor map. Use the OnIndoorStateChangeListener interface to set a listener to be called when either a new building is focused or a new level is activated in a building.

Get the building that is currently in focus by calling GoogleMap.getFocusedBuilding(). Centering the map on a specific lat/long will generally give you the building at that lat/long, but this is not guaranteed.

You can then find the currently active level by calling IndoorBuilding.getActiveLevelIndex().

IndoorBuilding building = mMap.getFocusedBuilding();
if (building == null) {
  return null;
}
return building.getLevels().get(building.getActiveLevelIndex());

This is useful if you want to show custom markup for the active level, such as markers, ground overlays, tile overlays, polygons, polylines, and other shapes.

Hint: To go back to street level, get the default level via IndoorBuilding.getDefaultLevelIndex(), and set it as the active level via IndoorLevel.activate().

Marker and info window events

You can listen and respond to marker events, including marker click and drag events, by setting the corresponding listener on the GoogleMap object to which the marker belongs. See the guide to marker events.

You can also listen to events on info windows.

Shape and overlay events

You can listen and respond to click events on polylines, polygons, circles, and ground overlays.

Location events

Your app can respond to the following events related to the My Location layer:

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