Google Place Picker doesn't stay open

Question

I'm trying to use the Google API Place Picker on a small app: the problem is that the place picker doesn't stay open, it shuts itself after few seconds. A lot of solutions on stack-overflow say that the most common cause is a bad manifest, but I think mine is not the case. Here my manifest:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<!--
     The ACCESS_COARSE/FINE_LOCATION permissions are not required to use
     Google Maps Android API v2, but you must specify either coarse or fine
     location permissions for the 'MyLocation' functionality. 
-->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />

<application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
    android:supportsRtl="true"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme">

    <!--
         The API key for Google Maps-based APIs is defined as a string resource.
         (See the file "res/values/google_maps_api.xml").
         Note that the API key is linked to the encryption key used to sign the APK.
         You need a different API key for each encryption key, including the release key that is used to
         sign the APK for publishing.
         You can define the keys for the debug and release targets in src/debug/ and src/release/. 
    -->
    <meta-data
        android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
        android:value="@string/google_maps_key" />
    <meta-data
        android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
        android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"/>

    <activity
        android:name=".MapsActivity"
        android:label="@string/title_activity_maps">
        <intent-filter>
            <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

            <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
        </intent-filter>
    </activity>
</application>

Here my Main Activity:

    package com.example.lorenzo.mysimplemap;

import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;

import com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesNotAvailableException;
import com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesRepairableException;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.CameraUpdateFactory;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.OnMapReadyCallback;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.LatLng;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.MarkerOptions;
import com.google.android.gms.location.places.ui.PlacePicker;

public class MapsActivity extends FragmentActivity implements OnMapReadyCallback {

    int PLACE_PICKER_REQUEST = 1;

    private GoogleMap mMap;
    Button pickPlaceButton;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_maps);
        // Obtain the SupportMapFragment and get notified when the map is ready to be used.
        SupportMapFragment mapFragment = (SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager()
                .findFragmentById(R.id.map);
        mapFragment.getMapAsync(this);

        pickPlaceButton = (Button)findViewById(R.id.pick_place_button);
        pickPlaceButton.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                try{
                    PlacePicker.IntentBuilder builder = new PlacePicker.IntentBuilder();
                    startActivityForResult(builder.build(MapsActivity.this), PLACE_PICKER_REQUEST);
                } catch(GooglePlayServicesRepairableException | GooglePlayServicesNotAvailableException e){
                    Log.v("MOOSECA","Problemi nell'avvio di place picker di google");
                }
            }
        });

    }


    /**
     * Manipulates the map once available.
     * This callback is triggered when the map is ready to be used.
     * This is where we can add markers or lines, add listeners or move the camera. In this case,
     * we just add a marker near Sydney, Australia.
     * If Google Play services is not installed on the device, the user will be prompted to install
     * it inside the SupportMapFragment. This method will only be triggered once the user has
     * installed Google Play services and returned to the app.
     */
    @Override
    public void onMapReady(GoogleMap googleMap) {
        mMap = googleMap;

        // Add a marker in Sydney and move the camera
        LatLng sydney = new LatLng(-34, 151);
        mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions().position(sydney).title("Marker in Sydney"));
        mMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLng(sydney));
    }
}

Here my gradle file:

    apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 25
    buildToolsVersion "25.0.1"
    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.example.lorenzo.mysimplemap"
        minSdkVersion 16
        targetSdkVersion 25
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
        testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    androidTestCompile('com.android.support.test.espresso:espresso-core:2.2.2', {
        exclude group: 'com.android.support', module: 'support-annotations'
    })
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:25.3.1'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:10.2.4'
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-places:10.2.4'
    testCompile 'junit:junit:4.12'
}

Here my layout for the main activity:

<FrameLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_width="match_parent">

<Button
    android:id="@+id/pick_place_button"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_gravity="top|center"
    android:text="scegli un posto" />
<fragment xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:map="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/map"
    android:name="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="com.example.lorenzo.mysimplemap.MapsActivity" />

Thanks in advance for any help!

Answer 1

Goto developers console page -> enable api-> select Google places Api and enable it for your project

Answer 2

I resolved my problem (thanks to Muhib Pirani) I had to enable the Google places api on my developer console page. After that, place picker works on my app.