Places SDK for Android release notes

Release 6.0.2

The Places SDK for Android version 6.0.2 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

The following methods and fragments, and their related request and response Kotlin classes, have been removed:

• PlacesClient.findCurrentPlace
• PlacesClient.fetchPlace
• Places.initialize methods
• PlacesClient.fetchPhoto
• Autocomplete
• AutocompleteFragment
• AutocompleteSupportFragment

Place Markers component

The Place Markers component of the Places UI Kit lets you create customizable map annotations that display key Place information directly on the map. This provides your users with a more informative map exploration experience without requiring them to tap into a detailed place card. For more information, see the Place Markers documentation.

Content slots

You can now use the Advance Place Details component of the Places UI Kit to add custom content slots to your map view. Content slots allow you to add your own content (such as AI-generated summaries, itinerary timestamps, or custom badges) directly into predefined layout zones. See the documentation.

Client-side caching

The Places UI Kit now supports client-side caching for AdvancedPlaceDetailsCompact AdvancedPlaceDetailsCompactFragment, and AdvancedPlaceDetailsFragment and PlaceMarker. This decreases loading latency in applications and eliminates duplicate billing for previously fetched data.

Built-in Jetpack Compose support

The Places UI Kit now provides Jetpack Compose @Composable functions for AdvancedPlaceDetailsCompact and PlaceMarkers. For more information, see the documentation for the Advanced Place Details and Place Markers components.

Place thumbnail views in AdvancedPlaceDetailsCompact, PlaceDetailsCompactFragment, AdvancedPlaceDetailsCompactFragment, PlaceDetailsFragment, AdvancedPlaceDetailsFragment, PlaceSearchFragment, AdvancedPlaceSearchFragment, and AdvancedPlaceListFragment of the Places UI Kit now appear for views that are less than 350 pixels wide.

Release 5.3.0

The Places SDK for Android version 5.3.0 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

GA launch of Advanced Places UI Kit components

The Advanced versions of the Place Details and Place Search components offer the same features as the Essentials versions. They also let you configure the action buttons of the component and apply search and filtering options to the reviews and media that are displayed.

The new Advanced Place List component lets you define and display a list of places. You can list up to 20 places from the same set of identities supported by the Place Details component (Place IDs, Place Resource Names, or lat/long coordinates).

• See the Overview page for full details.
• See the Advanced Place Details documentation.
• See the Advanced Place Search documentation.
• See the Advanced Place List documentation.

Fixed a bug where status bar icons would disappear when Autocomplete is used.

Fixed a bug where launching Place Autocomplete in Android 12 and below, when Firebase Analytics was enabled, produced a BadParcelableException.

Release 5.2.0

The Places SDK for Android version 5.2.0 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

New fields added to provide more comprehensive place details.

You can now include the following in your FetchPlaceRequest to retrieve additional information:

• AddressDescriptor: Returns a relational description of the location, including landmarks and areas.
• ContainingPlaces: Returns other notable places that contain the requested place.
• PostalAddress: Returns the place's address in a structured PostalAddress format.
• PriceRange: Returns the price range of the place.
• TimeZone: Returns the time zone of the place.

Enhanced Photo metadata.

The `PhotoMetadata class now also provides links:

• flagContentURL: Flags the photo content.
• googleMapsURL: Allows the photo to be viewed directly on Google Maps.

The manual keep rule needed to fix ServiceConfigurationError in version 5.1.1 is no longer needed as of version 5.2.0.

Places UI Kit customization tool. Create custom, cross-platform, Place Details configurations using our tool. You can use toggles to create your configuration, or upload an image to have Gemini get you started. Access the tool.

Release 5.1.1

The Places SDK for Android version 5.1.1 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

Text Search (New) now supports pagination through the getPagination() method. For more information, see Pagination.

You can now return a link to the Google Maps page for a place by including the GOOGLE_MAPS_LINKS field in your request.

The Places UI Kit Place Details Compact Widget now supports a Lightbox for full-screen photo enlargement. For more information, see Content display options.

You can now use the custom styling Customization tool to create and visualize custom styling configurations for Places UI Kit elements.

ServiceConfigurationError when using R8 Full Mode. The interim solution for version 5.1.1 is to add a proguard keep rule:

-keepclassmembers class com.google.android.libraries.places.internal.** {
    <init>();
}

Release 5.0.0

The Places SDK for Android version 5.0.0 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

The following previously deprecated fields have been removed:

• ADDRESS - use FORMATTED_ADDRESS instead.
• ICON_URL - use ICON_MASK_URL instead.
• LAT_LNG - use LOCATION instead.
• NAME - use DISPLAY_NAME instead.
• PHONE_NUMBER - use INTERNATIONAL_PHONE_NUMBER instead.
• USER_RATINGS_TOTAL - use USER_RATING_COUNT instead.
• WHEELCHAIR_ACCESSIBLE_ENTRANCE - use ACCESSIBILITY_OPTIONS instead.

For more information on alternate fields, see Place Data Fields (New).

In accordance with the Mobile OS version support policy, we are freezing support for Android 6.0 (API levels 23 and below) as of Places SDK for Android v5.0.0. The new minSDK is Android 7.0 (API level 24). Earlier Places SDK versions will continue supporting Android 6.0.

If your dependencies do not specify a version number, your IDE will load the newest SDK version and new builds of your app will not support Android 6.0.

Specify a version of the Places SDKs for Android in your application's build dependencies in order to control when you raise the minimum supported OS for new versions of your app.

The previously deprecated AutocompleteFragment class has been removed. Use AutocompleteSupportFragment instead.

Apps that use the Places SDK for Android must now enable Java 8 library support.

For more information, see https://developer.android.com/studio/write/java8-support.

The following previously deprecated methods have been removed from the Place class, along with their associated Place.Builder methods:

• getAddress() - use getFormattedAddress() instead.
• getIconUrl() - use getIconMaskUrl() instead.
• getLatLng - use getLocation() instead.
• getName() - use getDisplayName() instead.
• getNameLanguageCode() - use getDisplayNameLanguageCode() instead.
• getPhoneNumber() - use getInternationalPhoneNumber() instead.
• getTypes() - use getPlaceTypes() instead.
• getUserRatingsTotal() - use getUserRatingCount() instead.
• getWheelchairAccessibleEntrance() - use getAccessibilityOptions() instead.

The following Places SDK (Legacy) APIs are now deprecated:

• Places.initialize() — use Places.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled() instead.
• PlacesClient.findCurrentPlace() and the associated request and response classes — use PlacesClient.searchNearby() instead.
• PlacesClient.fetchPhoto() and the associated request and response classes — use PlacesClient.fetchResolvedPhotoUri() instead.
• The Places API (Legacy) autocomplete widget — migrate to Place Autocomplete (New) to use the Autocomplete (New) widget, or get place predictions programmatically.
• AutocompleteActivityMode
• PlacesClient.awaitFindCurrentPlace() and the associated request class
• PlacesClient.awaitFetchPhoto() and the associated request class

The following Generative AI summary fields are now available:

• GENERATIVE_SUMMARY
• NEIGHBORHOOD_SUMMARY
• REVIEW_SUMMARY
• EV_CHARGE_AMENITY_SUMMARY

The following classes and methods are now available:

• ConsumerAlert
• getVisitDate()
• getFlagContentUri()

You can now define custom themes to modify the styling of both the Autocomplete (New) Place Autocomplete widget and the UI Kit Basic Place Autocomplete component. For more information, see Custom Styling.

Full Place Details available in Places UI Kit Place Details component

The Places UI Kit Place Details component now allows you to display full information about a place. See the full documentation

Release 4.4.1

The Places SDK for Android version 4.4.1 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

Places UI Kit Basic Place Autocomplete component

The Places UI Kit Autocomplete component allows you to customize the look, feel, and content of a full-screen search bar that provides autocomplete results as a user types. See the full documentation.

Places UI Kit Place Search component

The Places UI Kit Place Search component allows you to customize the look, feel, and content of the place card generated by a search by text or search nearby request. See the full documentation.

The Place Autocomplete widget is now available for Autocomplete (New).

The Place Details UI Kit is now in General Availability.

Apps that use the Places SDK for Android 4.3.1 fail to build if the Material Components for Android are not included as a dependency. To resolve this issue, add the components as a dependency in your module-level build.gradle file:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.google.android.libraries.places:places:4.3.1'
    implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.12.0'
}

Release 4.3.1

The Places SDK for Android version 4.3.1 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

Release 4.2.0

The Places SDK for Android version 4.2.0 is now available. For information about this release, and for all previous releases, see the Release Notes or subscribe to the Release Notes XML feed.

If you are a new user, see Set Up in the Google Cloud Console to start the installation process. If you are an existing customer, see the upgrade instructions at Versions.

Apps configured with both minifyEnabled and coreLibraryDesugaringEnabled set to true may encounter a java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: j$.time.Instant.getNano crash. This issue is specific to release builds and has been fixed in version 4.3.1 of the Places SDK for Android.

To resolve this crash, please upgrade your Places SDK dependency to version 4.3.1.

Apps that use the Places SDK for Android 4.2.0 fail to build if the Material Components for Android are not included as a dependency. To resolve this issue, add the components as a dependency in your module-level build.gradle file:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.google.android.libraries.places:places:4.2.0'
    implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.12.0'
}

The Place Details UI Kit for Place Details, now available as an Experimental feature, allows you to add an individual UI component that displays place details to your app.

For more information, see Places UI Kit: Place Details (Experimental).