Set up an Android Studio project

To configure your app to use the Places SDK for Android, follow these steps. They are required for all apps using the Places SDK for Android.

Step 1: Set up Android Studio

This document describes a development environment using Android Studio Hedgehog and the Android Gradle plugin version 8.2.

Step 2. Set up the SDK

The Places SDK for Android library is available through Google's Maven repository. To add the SDK to your app, do the following:

In your top-level settings.gradle.kts file, include the Gradle plugin portal, Google Maven repository, and Maven central repository under the pluginManagement block. The pluginManagement block must appear before any other statements in the script.
```
pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        gradlePluginPortal()
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
} 
```

In your top-level settings.gradle.kts file, include the Google's Maven repository and Maven central repository under the dependencyResolutionManagement block:

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}

In the dependencies section of your module-level build.gradle file, add a dependency to the Places SDK for Android:

Note: Places SDK for Android version 3.5.0 requires kotlin-bom 1.8.0 or later. For more information on the kotlin-bom dependency, see Usage of the latest kotlin-stdlib version in transitive dependencies.

Groovy

dependencies {
    // If updating kotlin-bom version number above, also edit project-level build.gradle definition of $kotlin_version variable
    implementation(platform("org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-bom:$kotlin_version"))
    implementation 'com.google.android.libraries.places:places:3.3.0'
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    implementation(platform("org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-bom:$kotlin_version"))
    implementation("com.google.android.libraries.places:places:3.5.0")
}

In your module-level build.gradle file, set compileSdk and minSdk to the following values:

Note: Ensure that compileSdk is set to 34 or higher and minSdk is set to 23 or higher.

Groovy

android {
    compileSdk 34

    defaultConfig {
        minSdk 23
        // ...
    }
}

Kotlin

android {
    compileSdk = 34

    defaultConfig {
        minSdk = 23
        // ...
    }
}

In the buildFeatures section of your module-level build.gradle file, add the BuildConfig class, which you use to access metadata values defined later in this procedure:

Groovy

android {
  // ...
  buildFeatures {
    buildConfig true
    // ...
  }
}

Kotlin

android {
  // ...
  buildFeatures {
    buildConfig = true
    // ...
  }
}

Step 3: Add your API key to the project

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 secrets.properties file, which is located in the root directory of your project. For more information about the secrets.properties file, see Gradle properties files.

To streamline this task, we recommend that you use the Secrets Gradle Plugin for Android.

To install the Secrets Gradle Plugin for Android in your Google Maps project:

In Android Studio, open your top-level build.gradle.kts or build.gradle file and add the following code to the dependencies element under buildscript.

Kotlin

buildscript {
    dependencies {
        classpath("com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin:secrets-gradle-plugin:2.0.1")
    }
}

Groovy

buildscript {
    dependencies {
        classpath "com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin:secrets-gradle-plugin:2.0.1"
    }
}

Open your module-level build.gradle.kts or build.gradle file and add the following code to the plugins element.

Kotlin

plugins {
    // ...
    id("com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin")
}

Groovy

plugins {
    // ...
    id 'com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin'
}

In your module-level build.gradle.kts or build.gradle file, ensure that targetSdk and compileSdk are set to 34.
Save the file and sync your project with Gradle.
Open the secrets.properties file in your top-level directory, and then add the following code. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key. Store your key in this file because secrets.properties is excluded from being checked into a version control system.
Note: If the secrets.properties file does not exist, create it in the same folder as the local.properties file.
```
PLACES_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
```
Save the file.
Create the local.defaults.properties file in your top-level directory, the same folder as the secrets.properties file, and then add the following code.

Note: Enter the code as shown. Don't replace DEFAULT_API_KEY with your API key.
```
PLACES_API_KEY=DEFAULT_API_KEY
```
The purpose of this file is to provide a backup location for the API key if the secrets.properties file is not found so that builds don't fail. This can happen if you clone the app from a version control system which omits secrets.properties and you have not yet created a secrets.properties file locally to provide your API key.
Save the file.

In Android Studio, open your module-level build.gradle.kts or build.gradle file and edit the secrets property. If the secrets property does not exist, add it.

Edit the properties of the plugin to set propertiesFileName to secrets.properties, set defaultPropertiesFileName to local.defaults.properties, and set any other properties.

Kotlin

secrets {
    // To add your Maps API key to this project:
    // 1. If the secrets.properties file does not exist, create it in the same folder as the local.properties file.
    // 2. Add this line, where YOUR_API_KEY is your API key:
    //        MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
    propertiesFileName = "secrets.properties"

    // A properties file containing default secret values. This file can be
    // checked in version control.
    defaultPropertiesFileName = "local.defaults.properties"

    // Configure which keys should be ignored by the plugin by providing regular expressions.
    // "sdk.dir" is ignored by default.
    ignoreList.add("keyToIgnore") // Ignore the key "keyToIgnore"
    ignoreList.add("sdk.*")       // Ignore all keys matching the regexp "sdk.*"
}

Groovy

secrets {
    // To add your Maps API key to this project:
    // 1. If the secrets.properties file does not exist, create it in the same folder as the local.properties file.
    // 2. Add this line, where YOUR_API_KEY is your API key:
    //        MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
    propertiesFileName = "secrets.properties"

    // A properties file containing default secret values. This file can be
    // checked in version control.
    defaultPropertiesFileName = "local.defaults.properties"

    // Configure which keys should be ignored by the plugin by providing regular expressions.
    // "sdk.dir" is ignored by default.
    ignoreList.add("keyToIgnore") // Ignore the key "keyToIgnore"
    ignoreList.add("sdk.*")       // Ignore all keys matching the regexp "sdk.*"
}

Step 4. Initialize the Places API client

Initialize the Places SDK for Android within an activity or fragment. You must first decide which version of the SDK to use: Places SDK for Android or Places SDK for Android (New). For more information on product versions, see Choose your SDK version.

The following example shows how to initialize the SDK for both versions.

Places SDK for Android (New)

Pass the API key when calling Places.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled():

Kotlin

    // Define a variable to hold the Places API key.
    val apiKey = BuildConfig.PLACES_API_KEY

    // Log an error if apiKey is not set.
    if (apiKey.isEmpty() || apiKey == "DEFAULT_API_KEY") {
        Log.e("Places test", "No api key")
        finish()
        return
    }

    // Initialize the SDK
    Places.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled(applicationContext, apiKey)

    // Create a new PlacesClient instance
    val placesClient = Places.createClient(this)

Java

    // Define a variable to hold the Places API key.
    String apiKey = BuildConfig.PLACES_API_KEY;

    // Log an error if apiKey is not set.
    if (TextUtils.isEmpty(apiKey) || apiKey.equals("DEFAULT_API_KEY")) {
      Log.e("Places test", "No api key");
      finish();
      return;
    }

    // Initialize the SDK
    Places.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled(getApplicationContext(), apiKey);

    // Create a new PlacesClient instance
    PlacesClient placesClient = Places.createClient(this);

Places SDK for Android

Pass the API key when calling Places.initialize():

Kotlin

    // Define a variable to hold the Places API key.
    val apiKey = BuildConfig.PLACES_API_KEY

    // Log an error if apiKey is not set.
    if (apiKey.isEmpty() || apiKey == "DEFAULT_API_KEY") {
        Log.e("Places test", "No api key")
        finish()
        return
    }

    // Initialize the SDK
    Places.initialize(applicationContext, apiKey)

    // Create a new PlacesClient instance
    val placesClient = Places.createClient(this)

Java

    // Define a variable to hold the Places API key.
    String apiKey = BuildConfig.PLACES_API_KEY;

    // Log an error if apiKey is not set.
    if (TextUtils.isEmpty(apiKey) || apiKey.equals("DEFAULT_API_KEY")) {
      Log.e("Places test", "No api key");
      finish();
      return;
    }

    // Initialize the SDK
    Places.initialize(getApplicationContext(), apiKey);

    // Create a new PlacesClient instance
    PlacesClient placesClient = Places.createClient(this);

You are now ready to begin using the Places SDK for Android!

Step 5: Set up an Android device

To run an app that uses the Places SDK for Android, you must deploy it to an Android device or Android emulator that is based on Android 5.0 or higher and includes the Google APIs.

To use an Android device, follow the instructions at Run apps on a hardware device.
To use an Android emulator, you can create a virtual device and install the emulator by using the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager that comes with Android Studio.
Note: If you choose to use an Android emulator, ensure that you choose a device with the Play icon, , displayed under the Play Store column. This icon indicates that these profiles are fully CTS compliant and may use system images that include the Play Store app:

Next steps

After your project is configured, you can explore the sample apps.