Place Photos

Select platform: Android iOS JavaScript Web Service

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. To retrieve an image for a place, you must take the following steps:

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:
   1. Use Place.getPhotoMetadas() to get the photo metadata object, of type PhotoMetadata from the response Place object.
      Note: The contents of the PhotoMetadata object in the response Place object depend on your version of the SDK: Places SDK for Android or Places SDK for Android (New). For more information, see Access new PhotoMetadata data for version 3.3.0.
   2. Create a FetchPhotoRequest object, optionally specifying maximum height and width (in pixels). Photos can have a maximum width or height of 1600px.
   3. Use PlacesClient.fetchPhoto() to request the photo.
   4. Add an OnSuccessListener and get the photo from the FetchPhotoResponse.

Access PhotoMetadata data added in version 3.3.0

The Places SDK for Android (New) adds the AuthorAttributions field to the PhotoMetadata class. If your app enables the new SDK, then the PhotoMetadata object returned by Place.getPhotoMetadas() can contain one or more author attributions.

Note: The new SDK only supports the new PhotoMetadata data in Java.

When the PhotoMetadata object contains any attributions, either the new author attributions added in version 3.3.0 or the existing attributions available in version 3.2.0 and earlier, you must display them with the photo. For more information on handling all types of attributions, see Attributions.

To populate the PhotoMetadata object with author attributions, you must:

1. Enable the new SDK when you Set up your Google Cloud project.
Note: Places SDK for Android and Places SDK for Android (New) support different pricing models. For detailed pricing information for both SDKs, see Usage and Billing.
2. Initialize the new SDK within an activity or fragment.
3. Include the Place.Field.PHOTO_METADATAS in the field list of the place details request.
4. Call PlacesClient.fetchPlace() to get the Place object, and Place.getPhotoMetadas() to get the PhotoMetadata object. The author attributions field is not supported by PlacesClient.findCurrentPlace().
5. Use PhotoMetadata.getAuthorAttributions() to get author attributions.

Get a place 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.
        }
    });
});

      

You can use a CancellationToken to attempt to cancel a request to any of the request classes (for example, FetchPlaceRequest). Cancellation is done on a best-effort basis. Once a cancellation request is issued, no response will be returned. Issuing a cancellation token does NOT guarantee that a particular request will be cancelled, and you may still be charged for the request even if no response is returned.

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:

• Attributions, an attribution string accessed by PhotoMetadata.getAttributions().
• AuthorAttributions, an AuthorAttributions object accessed by PhotoMetadata.getAuthorAttributions().

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.