How to Integrate Google Maps into Your Android App?

E&ICTA12 March 2025

Maps are of great use and can increase the productivity of your Android app. Google Maps API allows you to integrate Google Maps into your Android application. You can show any location on the map or show different routes on the map too. You can also customise the map according to your choices.

The process for integration of Google Maps into your Android app is easy. If you are still learning about Android app development, follow this article till the end of it, and you will know how to integrate Google Maps into your Android App. Let’s go!

Create A New Android Project

Start by creating a new Android project in the Android studio. It just takes five easy steps to create a new Android project:

Step 1: Open the Android Studio
Step 2: Click on “Create New Project”
Step 3: Select the “Empty Activity” as your project template
Step 4: Click on the “Next” button
Step 5: Configure your project by entering the name and clicking on the “Finish” button

Now that you have created a new Android project, the next step is to create a Google Maps API key for your app.

Create A Google Maps API Key For Your App

The steps to create a Google Maps API key for your app are:

Step 1: Google Developer Console
Step 2: Log in with your email
Step 3: Click on the top left-hand side
Step 4: Click on APIs and Services
Step 5: Choose “Enabled APIs and Services”
Step 6: Click on “Create Project”
Step 7: Enter “Project Name”
Step 8: Click on the “Create” button

Once you create the project in Google Developer Console, enable API using the following steps:

Step 1: Click on “Enable APIs and services”.
Step 2: Select “Maps SDK for Android”.
Step 3: Click on the “Enable” button.

Once the API is enabled, now create a new Google Map API key for your Google map:

Step 1: Click on “Credentials” on the vertical left-hand side tab.
Step 2: Click on the “Create Credentials” button to get the credential of your new Google Map API key.
Step 3: Select the API key from the drop-down.

Now the API key is created, and you can copy it. You can also add restrictions to your API key by clicking the API key 1. It allows you to choose among application restrictions like None, HTTP referrers, IP addresses, Android or IOS apps and API restrictions. Click on Android apps if you want to restrict the Android key to Android apps. Now, copy the command under “Debug certificate fingerprint”. Once done, paste this command into your industry row terminal, and you will get the SHA1 key for your Android app. Tip: If you are using the key for a production application, select either IP addresses, Android apps, or IOS apps among application restrictions. For now, choose none in the application restrictions. The next step is to add Google Maps dependency.

Add Google Maps Dependency

The steps to add Google Maps dependency are:

Step 1: Go to Android Studio
Step 2: Open the build. gradle that indicates the module
Step 3: Head to the dependencies.
Step 4: Paste the following dependency there:

implementation ‘com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:18.1.0’

Step 5: Click on “Sync Now” visible on the top right-hand side.

Once you add the dependency, close the tab. The next step is to add the metadata.

Add The Metadata

The steps to add the Metadata are:

Step 1: Use the following Metadata:

<meta-data

android:name=”com.google.android.geo.API_KEY”

android:value=”${MAPS_API_KEY}” />

Step 2: Go to Android Studio
Step 3: Open the AndroidManifest.xml file under the manifests folder
Step 4: Paste the Metadata inside the application text

The next step is to store your Google Maps API key in string.xml.

Use The Google Maps API Key

The steps to use and store the Google Maps API key in string.xml are:

Step 1: Click on the res tab on the left-hand side
Step 2: Expand the values drop-down and select string.xml.
Step 3: Create a string here

Step 4: Paste the Google Maps API key you created in the above string
Step 5: Go to the AndroidManifest.xml file again
Step 6: Replace the Android value in the Metadata to @string/my_map_api_key
Step 7: Close the manifest file now

The next step is to declare a fragment to define the structure of the UI of your app.

Declare A Fragment

Replace the TextView in the activity_main.xml file with the following piece of code that declares a fragment:

<fragment

android:layout_width=”match_parent”

android:layout_height=”match_parent”

android:id=”@+id/map”

android:name=” com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment” />

Implement the OnMapReady Callback

The steps to implement the OnMapReady callback are:

Step 1: Go to the MainActivity tab
Step 2: Implement the OnMapReady callback to the below line of code:

public class MapsActivity extends AppCompatActivity

Step 3: Now the line of code will look like this:

public class MapsActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements OnMapReadyCallback

Step 4: Click on the red bulb appearing on the line of code and select implement methods
Step 5: Select the OnMapReady method and click “Ok”.

You may think, why do you need to use the OnMapReady method?

You need to use the OnMapReady method because Google Maps take milliseconds to load on Oncreate, and it will give you the null pointer exception. Hence, OnMapReady is a better choice for loading the map when it’s ready.

Create A Google Map Variable

The steps to create a Google Map Variable are:

Step 1: Add the following line of code:

private GoogleMap mymap;

Tip: Choose to name of the map as per your wish

Step 2: Now call the SupportMapFragment and cast it to map fragment

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_maps);

SupportMapFragment mapFragment = getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map);

}

Step 3: Recast the support map fragment, and now the piece of code will look like this:

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

SupportMapFragment mapFragment = (SupportMapFragment} getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map);

}

Step 4: Call your map fragment using getMapAsync, and your updated piece of code will look like this:

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

SupportMapFragment mapFragment = (SupportMapFragment} getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map);

mapFragment.getMapAync (callback this);

}

Initialise Google Map Variables

The steps to initialise Google Map variables are:

Step 1: Initialise the Google Map using the following line of code:

myMap = googleMap;

Step 2: Add latitudes and longitudes and pass the values using the following piece of code:

Syntax: Latlng = new Latlng (latitude value, longitude value);

Step 3: Call your map and add the marker using the following piece of code

myMap.addmarker (new MarkerOptions().position())

Step 4: Pass the name of your location and add the title using the following code:

Syntax: myMap.addmarker (new MarkerOptions().position(name of your location).title(“Add The Title”)

Step 5: Move the camera using the following code:

Syntax: mpMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLng(name of your location));

Now, run your application. You will see your Google map is loaded and shows your location because you passed its latitude and longitude.

Let’s Wrap!

These nine steps are easy to follow and will help you integrate Google Maps into your Android app. While the above steps use Javascript, you can also use Kotlin to integrate Google Maps into your Android app. Make sure you bookmark this page to use this information when you need it!