Get Started

By integrating the Navigation SDK for Android, your app can go beyond linking to an external map view. With Google Maps navigation, your app can offer dynamic retrieval and single-look reporting of data about a driver's journey.

This guide shows you an Android Studio project, how to integrate the Navigation SDK, and run the demo app supplied with the SDK.

The Navigation SDK is a static library (.aar) that gives you control over the appearance and audio for navigation in your app. For details about the library, open Navigation SDK reference (Javadoc) in a separate window.

Get ready

To get started with the Navigation SDK for Android, be sure to have the following items:

• A Google Maps Platform representative for access to the following:

  • An API key provisioned for use with Navigation SDK. You need to provide your projectID which you can find in the Google Cloud Console main dashboard, under the project name.

  • The zip file which contains:

    • The static library file .aar in the libs/ directory containing the Navigation SDK as an aar bundle.
    • Text files for licensing and links to Terms of Use and agreements.
    • A demo app to import as a new project in Android Studio. The app's files for building the demo app in Android Studio using Gradle and Maven.

• Android Studio, the recommended development environment for building an app with the Navigation SDK. This documentation is designed for people familiar with Android development and object-oriented programming concepts. You should also be familiar with Google Maps from a user's point of view.

Get the SDK, demo app, and documentation

After you download and unzip the SDK file, you can examine and run the demo app.

The demo app provides a build that implements a NavigationFragment class and a variant that implements a NavigationView class. The NavigationFragment variant runs by default and displays a navigation path as shown in the following image.

1. Using your favorite file manager, go to the directory with the SDK files.

2. Copy the Navigation SDK library into the app/libs directory of the demo project:

   For example, you might run cp libs/*.aar demo/app/libs in your Linux terminal.

3. In Android Studio, import the demo app and allow Gradle to run.

   Note: The app build will fail until you update the app's manifest with the provisioned API key.

4. Open the app's AndroidManifest.xml and update the value of the API_KEY property:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
       package="com.example.navigationapidemo" >
   
       <application
           android:allowBackup="true"
           android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
           android:label="@string/app_name"
           android:supportsRtl="true"
           android:theme="@style/_AppTheme" >
   
           <meta-data
               android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
               android:value="YOUR_API_KEY"/>
       </application>
   </manifest>
   

5. Click build and examine the SDK implementation details.

   • In the java class, note the implementation code.

   • In the layout xml, note the layout design and text.

   • In the build.gradle file, note the SDK in the dependencies.

Run the app

1. Connect an Android device to your computer or use an emulator.

   • Android device Refer to the instructions to enable developer options on your Android device and configure your system to detect the device.
   • Emulator Use the Android Virtual Device (AVD) Manager to configure a virtual device. When choosing an emulator, make sure you pick an image that includes the Google APIs.

2. In Android Studio, click the Run menu option (or the play button icon); and then, choose a deployment target.

3. In the Navigation Demo app, choose Set Destination, then follow the prompts to select a location and start the simulated navigation.

Build the View Variant

The demo app includes a View variant.

1. In Android Studio, open the demo app and click on Build Variants tab of the Build window.

   Note: The Variant tab appears vertically to the far left of the Build window.

2. In the Build Variants window, select viewDebug and the file list changes.

3. Examine the SDK implementation details for the NavigationView class.

   • In NavViewActivity.java, note the implementation code.

   • In Activity_Nav_View.xml, note the layout design and text.

4. Build and run the app. The app name changes to indicate which version is built. Otherwise, only the rendering object is different.

Next step

Integrate the Navigation SDK for Android into your own app.