How to find nearby places using new places sdk for android?

Question

I am trying to apply the new library that android added after 29,January 2019. All the old apps are using maps and places sdk are their methods are deprecated. I have tried to read all the new docs but it seems that the new library doesn't support nearby search but only current location. Correct me if I am wrong, please.

Answer 1

The below code would be an example you can use for guidance of how you can call the Nearby Search service from the Java client within your Android app:

MapsActivity.java

import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;

import androidx.fragment.app.FragmentActivity;

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.maps.model.PlacesSearchResult;

public class MapsActivity extends FragmentActivity implements OnMapReadyCallback {

    private Context mContext;
    private GoogleMap mMap;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_maps);

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

    @Override
    public void onMapReady(GoogleMap googleMap) {
        mMap = googleMap;

        PlacesSearchResult[] placesSearchResults = new NearbySearch().run().results;

        Log.e("response1Tag", placesSearchResults[0].toString());
        Log.e("response2Tag", placesSearchResults[1].toString());

        double lat1 = placesSearchResults[0].geometry.location.lat;
        double lng1 = placesSearchResults[0].geometry.location.lng;

        double lat2 = placesSearchResults[1].geometry.location.lat;
        double lng2 = placesSearchResults[1].geometry.location.lng;

        mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions().position(new LatLng(lat1, lng1)));
        mMap.addMarker(new MarkerOptions().position(new LatLng(lat2, lng2)));

        mMap.setMinZoomPreference(14.0f);
        mMap.moveCamera(CameraUpdateFactory.newLatLng(new LatLng(lat1, lng1)));
    }
}

NearbySearch.java

import com.google.maps.GeoApiContext;
import com.google.maps.PlacesApi;
import com.google.maps.errors.ApiException;
import com.google.maps.model.PlaceType;
import com.google.maps.model.PlacesSearchResponse;
import com.google.maps.model.RankBy;
import com.google.maps.model.LatLng;
import java.io.IOException;

public class NearbySearch {

    public PlacesSearchResponse run(){
        PlacesSearchResponse request = new PlacesSearchResponse();
        GeoApiContext context = new GeoApiContext.Builder()
                .apiKey("MY_KEY")
                .build();
        LatLng location = new LatLng(-33.8670522, 151.1957362);

        try {
            request = PlacesApi.nearbySearchQuery(context, location)
                    .radius(5000)
                    .rankby(RankBy.PROMINENCE)
                    .keyword("cruise")
                    .language("en")
                    .type(PlaceType.RESTAURANT)
                    .await();
        } catch (ApiException | IOException | InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } finally {
            return request;
        }
    }
}

In build.gradle add:

implementation 'com.google.maps:google-maps-services:0.11.0'

Screenshot:

Note that the API key you'll use to call the API should be secured properly, e.g. you may need to set up a proxy server. Take a look at these techniques.

Hope this helps!