Set up your project

This guide lists the build configuration requirements for using the Navigation SDK for Android version 5.0.0 and later.

The instructions assume you have an Android IDE installed and are familiar with Android development.

Minimum requirements for using Navigation SDK

These requirements apply to Navigation SDK for Android versions 5.0.0 and later.

Set up your projects: Cloud Console project and Android project

Before you can build or test an app, you need to create a Cloud Console project and add API key credentials. The project must have provisioning to access the Navigation SDK. All keys within the Cloud Console project are granted the same access to the Navigation SDK. A key can have more than one development project associated with it. If you already have a console project, you can add a key to your current project.

To set up

  1. In your favorite web browser, sign in to the Cloud Console and create your Cloud Console project.
  2. In your IDE, such as Android Studio, create an Android app development project and note the package name.
  3. Contact your Google Maps Platform representative to provide access to the Navigation SDK for your Cloud Console project.
  4. While on the Cloud Console dashboard in your web browser, create credentials to generate an API key with restrictions.
  5. On the API key page, click Android apps in the Application restrictions area.
  6. Click Add the package name and fingerprint, and then enter the package name of your development project and the SHA-1 fingerprint for that key.
  7. Click Save.

Add the Navigation SDK to your project

The Navigation SDK is available through Maven. After you create your development project, you can integrate the SDK into it by using one of the following approaches.

The following uses the google() Maven repository, which is the simplest and recommended way to add Navigation SDK to your project.

  1. Add the following dependency to your Gradle or Maven configuration, substituting the VERSION_NUMBER placeholder for the desired version of Navigation SDK for Android.

    Gradle

    Add the following to your module-level build.gradle:

    dependencies {
      ...
      implementation 'com.google.android.libraries.navigation:navigation:VERSION_NUMBER'
    }
    

    If upgrading from the original Maven repository, note that the group and artifact names have changed, and the com.google.cloud.artifactregistry.gradle-plugin plugin is no longer necessary.

    And add the following to your top-level build.gradle:

    allprojects {
       ...
       // Required: you must exclude the Google Play service Maps SDK from
       // your transitive dependencies. This is to ensure there won't be
       // multiple copies of Google Maps SDK in your binary, as the Navigation
       // SDK already bundles the Google Maps SDK.
       configurations {
           implementation {
               exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-maps'
           }
       }
    }
    

    Maven

    Add the following to your pom.xml:

    <dependencies>
      ...
      <dependency>
        <groupId>com.google.android.libraries.navigation</groupId>
        <artifactId>navigation</artifactId>
        <version>VERSION_NUMBER</version>
      </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    

    If you have any dependencies that use the Maps SDK, you have to exclude the dependency in each declared dependency that relies on the Maps SDK.

    <dependencies>
      <dependency>
      <groupId>project.that.brings.in.maps</groupId>
      <artifactId>MapsConsumer</artifactId>
      <version>1.0</version>
        <exclusions>
          <!-- Navigation SDK already bundles Maps SDK. You must exclude it to prevent duplication-->
          <exclusion>  <!-- declare the exclusion here -->
            <groupId>com.google.android.gms</groupId>
            <artifactId>play-services-maps</artifactId>
          </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
      </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    

Using Maven for Navigation SDK prior to v4.5, or with Driver SDK

Navigation SDK continues to be available through the original Maven repository through the remainder of the v4 versions. This is the same library with all the same updates as the version above, and provides compatibility with Driver SDK and other libraries during the transition. Using this dependency requires logging into your cloud project using gcloud when compiling.

  1. Set up your environment to access Google's Maven repository as described in the Prerequisites section of the Consumer SDK documentation. Access to the Navigation SDK is controlled through a workspace group.
  2. Add the following dependency to your Gradle or Maven configuration, substituting the VERSION_NUMBER placeholder for the desired version of Navigation SDK.

    Gradle

    Add the following to your module-level build.gradle:

    dependencies {
      ...
      implementation 'com.google.android.maps:navsdk:VERSION_NUMBER'
    }
    

    And add the following to your top-level build.gradle:

    allprojects {
       ...
       // Required: you must exclude the Google Play service Maps SDK from
       // your transitive dependencies. This is to ensure there won't be
       // multiple copies of Google Maps SDK in your binary, as the Navigation
       // SDK already bundles the Google Maps SDK.
       configurations {
           implementation {
               exclude group: 'com.google.android.gms', module: 'play-services-maps'
           }
       }
    }
    

    Maven

    Add the following to your pom.xml:

    <dependencies>
      ...
      <dependency>
        <groupId>com.google.android.maps</groupId>
        <artifactId>navsdk</artifactId>
        <version>VERSION_NUMBER</version>
      </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    

    If you have any dependencies that use the Maps SDK, you have to exclude the dependency in each declared dependency that relies on the Maps SDK.

    <dependencies>
      <dependency>
      <groupId>project.that.brings.in.maps</groupId>
      <artifactId>MapsConsumer</artifactId>
      <version>1.0</version>
        <exclusions>
          <!-- Navigation SDK already bundles Maps SDK. You must exclude it to prevent duplication-->
          <exclusion>  <!-- declare the exclusion here -->
            <groupId>com.google.android.gms</groupId>
            <artifactId>play-services-maps</artifactId>
          </exclusion>
        </exclusions>
      </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    

Configure the build

After you have created the project, you can configure the settings for a successful build and use of the Navigation SDK.

Update local properties

  • In the Gradle Scripts folder, open the local.properties file and add android.useDeprecatedNdk=true.

Update the Gradle build script

  • Open the build.gradle (Module:app) file and use the following guidelines to update the settings to meet the requirements for Navigation SDK and consider setting the optimization options as well.

    Required settings for Navigation SDK

    1. Set minSdk to 23 or higher.
    2. Set targetSdk to 33 or higher.
    3. Add a dexOptions setting that increases the javaMaxHeapSize.
    4. Set the location for additional libraries.
    5. Add the repositories and dependencies for the Navigation SDK.
    6. Replace the version numbers in the dependencies with the latest available versions.

    Optional settings to decrease build time

    • Enable code shrinking and resource shrinking using R8/ProGuard to remove unused code and resources from dependencies. If the R8/ProGuard step takes too much time to run, consider enabling multidex for development work.
    • Reduce the number of language translations included in the build: Set resConfigs for one language during development. For the final build, set resConfigs for languages you actually use. By default, Gradle includes resource strings for all languages supported by the Navigation SDK.

    Add desugaring for Java8 support

    • If you're building your app using the Android Gradle plugin 4.0.0 or higher, the plugin extends support for using a number of Java 8 language APIs. See Java 8 desugaring support for more information. See the example build script snippet below for how compile and dependency options.

Below is an example of the Gradle build script for the application. Check the sample apps for updated sets of dependencies, as the version of Navigation SDK you are using may be slightly ahead or behind this documentation.

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
apply plugin: 'com.google.cloud.artifactregistry.gradle-plugin'

ext {
    androidxLifecycleVersion = "2.4.1"
    glideVersion = "4.13.2"
    navSdk = "__NAVSDK_VERSION__"
}

android {
    compileSdk 33
    buildToolsVersion='28.0.3'

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "<your id>"
        // Navigation SDK supports SDK 23 and later.
        minSdk 23
        targetSdk 33
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
        // Set this to the languages you actually use, otherwise you'll include resource strings
        // for all languages supported by the Navigation SDK.
        resConfigs "en"
        multiDexEnabled true
    }

    dexOptions {
        // This increases the amount of memory available to the dexer. This is required to build
        // apps using the Navigation SDK.
        javaMaxHeapSize "4g"
    }
    buildTypes {
        // Run ProGuard. Note that the Navigation SDK includes its own ProGuard configuration.
        // The configuration is included transitively by depending on the Navigation SDK.
        // If the ProGuard step takes too long, consider enabling multidex for development work
        // instead.
        all {
            minifyEnabled true
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
    compileOptions {
        // Flag to enable support for the new language APIs
        coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled true
        // Sets Java compatibility to Java 8
        sourceCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
        targetCompatibility JavaVersion.VERSION_1_8
    }
}

// This tells Gradle where to look to find additional libraries - in this case, the
// google_navigation_navmap.aar file.
repositories {
    flatDir {
        dirs 'libs'
    }
    google()

    // Required for accessing the Navigation SDK on Google's Maven repository.
    maven {
        url "artifactregistry://us-west2-maven.pkg.dev/gmp-artifacts/transportation"
    }
}

dependencies {
    // Include the Google Navigation SDK.
    // Note: remember to exclude Google play service Maps SDK from your transitive
    // dependencies to avoid duplicate copies of the Google Maps SDK.
    api "com.google.android.maps:navsdk:${navSdk}"

    // Add: android.useDeprecatedNdk=true
    // to local.properties.
    api "org.chromium.net:cronet-fallback:76.3809.111"
    // Optional for Cronet users:
    // api "org.chromium.net:cronet-api:69.3497.100"

    // Add LeakCanary to debugImplementation because LeakCanary should only run
    // in debug builds.
    debugImplementation 'com.squareup.leakcanary:leakcanary-android:2.10'

    // And dependencies.
    api "androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.6.1"
    api "androidx.cardview:cardview:1.0.0"
    api "androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:2.0.4"
    api "androidx.legacy:legacy-support-v4:1.0.0"
    api "androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-common-java8:${androidxLifecycleVersion}"
    api "androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-process:${androidxLifecycleVersion}"
    api "androidx.mediarouter:mediarouter:1.3.0"
    api "androidx.preference:preference:1.1.1"
    api "androidx.recyclerview:recyclerview:1.2.1"
    api "androidx.tracing:tracing:1.0.0"
    api "com.github.bumptech.glide:glide:${glideVersion}"
    api "com.google.android.datatransport:transport-api:3.0.0"
    api "com.google.android.datatransport:transport-backend-cct:3.1.4"
    api "com.google.android.datatransport:transport-runtime:3.1.4"
    api "joda-time:joda-time:2.10.14"
    // Also include the Google Places SDK, which is used by this example, but
    // isn't required by the Navigation SDK.
    api "com.google.android.libraries.places:places:2.5.0"
    api "com.google.android.material:material:1.5.0"
    api 'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-reflect:1.6.21'
    api 'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:1.6.21'
    api 'com.google.guava:guava:31.0.1-android'

    annotationProcessor "androidx.annotation:annotation:1.2.0"
    annotationProcessor "com.github.bumptech.glide:compiler:${glideVersion}"
    coreLibraryDesugaring 'com.android.tools:desugar_jdk_libs:1.1.9'
}

Add the API key to your app

This section describes how to store your API key so that it can be securely referenced by your app. You should not check your API key into your version control system, so we recommend storing it in the local.properties file, which is located in the root directory of your project. For more information about the local.properties file, see Gradle properties files.

To streamline this task, we recommend that you use the Secrets Gradle Plugin for Android. To install the plugin and store your API key:

  1. In Android Studio, open your project-level build.gradle file and add the following code to the dependencies element under buildscript.
    plugins {
        // ...
        id 'com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin' version '2.0.1' apply false
    }
  2. Next, open your module-level build.gradle file and add the following code to the plugins element.
    id 'com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin'
        
  3. Save the file and sync your project with Gradle.
  4. Open the local.properties in your project level directory, and then add the following code. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key.
    MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
        
  5. Save the file.
  6. In your AndroidManifest.xml file, go to com.google.android.geo.API_KEY and update the android:value attribute as follows:
    <meta-data
        android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
        android:value="${MAPS_API_KEY}" />
        

Note: As shown above, com.google.android.geo.API_KEY is the recommended metadata name for the API key. A key with this name can be used to authenticate to multiple Google Maps-based APIs on the Android platform, including the Navigation SDK for Android. For backwards compatibility, the API also supports the name com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY. This legacy name allows authentication to the Android Maps API v2 only. An application can specify only one of the API key metadata names. If both are specified, the API throws an exception.

Include the required attributions in your app

If you use the Navigation SDK for Android in your app, you must include attribution text and open source licenses as part of your app's legal notices section.

You can find the required attribution text and open source licenses in the Navigation SDK for Android zip file:

  • NOTICE.txt
  • LICENSES.txt

If you are a Mobility or Fleet Engine Deliveries customer

If you are a Mobility or Fleet Engine Deliveries customer, learn about billing in the Mobility documentation. For more information about recording transactions, see Set up billing, Record billable transactions, Reporting, and Record billable transactions (Android).