Place Photos

You can use the Places SDK for Android to request a place photo to display in your application. Photos returned by the photos service come from a variety of sources, including business owners and user-contributed photos.

Places SDK for Android returns a bitmap image with a maximum size of 1600 by 1600 pixels.

Photo retrieval process

To retrieve an image for a place:

  1. Use Place Details to fetch a Place object (use either fetchPlace() or findCurrentPlace()). Be sure to include the Place.Field PHOTO_METADATAS field in the list of fields to include in the response Place object.
  2. In the OnSuccessListener for your FetchPlaceResponse or FindCurrentPlaceResponse, use Place.getPhotoMetadas() to get the photo metadata object, of type PhotoMetadata from the response Place object.
  3. Create a FetchPhotoRequest object, optionally specifying maximum height and width (in pixels). Photos can have a maximum width or height of 1600px.
  4. Use PlacesClient.fetchPhoto() to request the photo bitmap.
  5. Add an OnSuccessListener and get the photo from the FetchPhotoResponse.

Get a photo

The following example demonstrates getting a place photo:

Kotlin

// Define a Place ID.
val placeId = "INSERT_PLACE_ID_HERE"

// Specify fields. Requests for photos must always have the PHOTO_METADATAS field.
val fields = listOf(Place.Field.PHOTO_METADATAS)

// Get a Place object (this example uses fetchPlace(), but you can also use findCurrentPlace())
val placeRequest = FetchPlaceRequest.newInstance(placeId, fields)

placesClient.fetchPlace(placeRequest)
    .addOnSuccessListener { response: FetchPlaceResponse ->
        val place = response.place

        // Get the photo metadata.
        val metada = place.photoMetadatas
        if (metada == null || metada.isEmpty()) {
            Log.w(TAG, "No photo metadata.")
            return@addOnSuccessListener
        }
        val photoMetadata = metada.first()

        // Get the attribution text.
        val attributions = photoMetadata?.attributions

        // Create a FetchPhotoRequest.
        val photoRequest = FetchPhotoRequest.builder(photoMetadata)
            .setMaxWidth(500) // Optional.
            .setMaxHeight(300) // Optional.
            .build()
        placesClient.fetchPhoto(photoRequest)
            .addOnSuccessListener { fetchPhotoResponse: FetchPhotoResponse ->
                val bitmap = fetchPhotoResponse.bitmap
                imageView.setImageBitmap(bitmap)
            }.addOnFailureListener { exception: Exception ->
                if (exception is ApiException) {
                    Log.e(TAG, "Place not found: " + exception.message)
                    val statusCode = exception.statusCode
                    TODO("Handle error with given status code.")
                }
            }
    }

Java

// Define a Place ID.
final String placeId = "INSERT_PLACE_ID_HERE";

// Specify fields. Requests for photos must always have the PHOTO_METADATAS field.
final List<Place.Field> fields = Collections.singletonList(Place.Field.PHOTO_METADATAS);

// Get a Place object (this example uses fetchPlace(), but you can also use findCurrentPlace())
final FetchPlaceRequest placeRequest = FetchPlaceRequest.newInstance(placeId, fields);

placesClient.fetchPlace(placeRequest).addOnSuccessListener((response) -> {
    final Place place = response.getPlace();

    // Get the photo metadata.
    final List<PhotoMetadata> metadata = place.getPhotoMetadatas();
    if (metadata == null || metadata.isEmpty()) {
        Log.w(TAG, "No photo metadata.");
        return;
    }
    final PhotoMetadata photoMetadata = metadata.get(0);

    // Get the attribution text.
    final String attributions = photoMetadata.getAttributions();

    // Create a FetchPhotoRequest.
    final FetchPhotoRequest photoRequest = FetchPhotoRequest.builder(photoMetadata)
        .setMaxWidth(500) // Optional.
        .setMaxHeight(300) // Optional.
        .build();
    placesClient.fetchPhoto(photoRequest).addOnSuccessListener((fetchPhotoResponse) -> {
        Bitmap bitmap = fetchPhotoResponse.getBitmap();
        imageView.setImageBitmap(bitmap);
    }).addOnFailureListener((exception) -> {
        if (exception instanceof ApiException) {
            final ApiException apiException = (ApiException) exception;
            Log.e(TAG, "Place not found: " + exception.getMessage());
            final int statusCode = apiException.getStatusCode();
            // TODO: Handle error with given status code.
        }
    });
});

Attributions

In most cases, place photos can be used without attribution, or will have the required attribution included as part of the image. However, the photo metadata object, of type PhotoMetadata, can contain either of two types of additional attributions:

If the returned PhotoMetadata object includes either type of attribution, you must include the attribution in your application wherever you display the image. For more information, see Displaying Attributions.

Usage and billing

A Places Photo SKU is charged for calls to fetchPhoto(). See the Usage and Billing page for details.