How to Use Street View in Android Apps?

Released in 2005, Google Maps have eventually turned into one of the most popular services for app users across the globe. The project has evolved over the years and today introduce some essential features letting users find millions of attractions and places of interest in unknown cities. Those key features include:

  • Satellite imagery;
  • Street views;
  • Public transportation;
  • Congested roads, traffic jams, etc.

Today, the project has over 1 billion of daily active users – as you see, Google Maps has grown into the largest and most recognizable navigation software around. For this reason, many developers are searching for the best and easiest ways to set Google Map street view for Android.

The task is not as simple as it may seem. Your mission is to bring a full set of features provided by Google Maps street view for Android directly to your end users. Otherwise, they are likely to miss some hidden options and extra functions delivered by the award-winning project. This is why we decided to come up with a compilation of some prize-winning tricks for both developers and their users. Today you will have a chance to take the fullest from using Google Maps street view in Android app.

How to Use Google Street View on Android: Essential Tips to Follow

When we’re talking in terms of the simplest Google Maps street view in Android tutorial the first thing you need to do is to have a clear understanding of how the navigation software actually works. Google Maps let users benefit from the following capabilities:

  1. Get directions quickly – the navigation system lets users build the shortest and fastest route within a couple of taps. That’s exactly how users don’t get lost in an unknown place or city.
  2. Share location – users can get an access to a full list of devices they can share their location through. It is a good idea for friends and relatives to find user’s location with ease at short notice.
  3. Street View on mobile devices – users have a chance to see the photo of their location anytime they need. They can also share the image of the location as well as the location itself.
  4. Find nearby things – users are not always aware of what exactly they are looking for. Whether they are looking for the nearest gas station or a café to have a snack, the unknown area can turn the search into a tough challenge. The expanded list will provide a full information on all available restaurants, bars and other venues located nearby.

In spite of all benefits, the navigation software has some drawbacks as well. For example, there have been many complaints regarding the weakness of Google Maps:

  • offline maps are limited;
  • users ought to follow the latest updates and modifications in order to get an access to a full set of services.

At the same time, thanks to a satellite integration, Google Maps became the best offer on the market in spite of numerous complaints found in Google’s mailbox. If you still do not have the foggiest idea of how to add Street View in Android, you should stay tuned and follow our tutorial.

How to Add Street View to Android App?

Implementing the navigation software in your app will certainly be a huge advantage. You will let your customers explore the surrounding world and provide identified locations, custom markers, satellite images and more great features to benefit. Here are some useful tips you may find in handy in case you decide to cope with the integration process by yourself:

  1. Take the advantage of Google Map API for Android. You will have a chance to add new maps as well as customize them right in your application.
  2. Add new maps to your application and embed them into activities. Maps can be viewed as a fragment of a simple XML snippet. Developers will certainly benefit from a selection of new award-winning features such as 3D images, satellite imagery, indoor, hybrid maps and more. Animation transitions and other features are also available when using “Add a map object” function.
  3. Map customization lets you add special markers. They can be used for identification of some major places of interest, venues, and attractions for the users. Developers are free to select from a range of colors or icons to create a unique style to match the app’s look. Go to “Draw Markers” section to draw additional polygons and polylines.
  4. Take control over your users’ views. You can decide on which type of view to provide your users with. App owners are free to change the rotation, pan properties and zoom in the “Change View” section.
  5. Add Street View to your app and get started.

Adding Street View to your application:

  1. At first stage, you will need to add a new fragment to the Activity class. The new object is necessary to process the Street View panorama. The easiest way is to add <fragment> to the Activity file layout.
  2. Now you need to implement the following interface: OnStreetViewPanoramaReadyCallback. You can do this using the call back method and receive the object descriptor: StreetViewPanorama.
  3. Make the fragment request getStreetViewPanoramaAsync() to register the callback.

Of course, we provide a brief tutorial. The above-mentioned three steps include some more detailed operations. In addition to settings configuration and views overlaying, developers will have to deal with Indoor Level Selector. At the same time, developers may opt for some more advanced methods to interact with Google Maps. Every time you want to add a new view, you can use MapFragment.

Conclusion

Today we tried to shed light on some useful tips and tricks how to add Street View to your Android application. Of course, the navigation software has plenty of other things to deal with during the implementation process. Developing the app by yourself comes with a risk of missing some award-winning features.
For this reason, the best bet is to opt for a professional team of specialists who have enough experience and expertise in adding Google Maps in their full swing. We boast a team of qualified and dedicated experts who will do their best to bring your ideas to life. Feel free to ask any questions or contact us for more details.

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