MapActivity: set APIKey programmatically

Question

I currently use a MapActivity in my application. I use it with 2 API Keys. One for debugging, and one for "production"

I am fed up with changing these values in the xml layout:

 <view class="com.google.android.maps.MapView" 
        android:id="@+id/myGmap" 
        android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:enabled="true"
        android:clickable="true"
        android:apiKey="@string/api_key_prod" />

I am fed up trying to change the apikey each time and replace prod by debug each time.

Is that possible to change this key within the onCreate() of my application.

Imagine that I have a boolean preference that look like: isDebug.

I may check thi preference on my phone and disable it by default on user application. and make something like:

 if (isDebug)
     myMap.setApiKey(R.string.api_key_debug)
 else
     myMap.setApiKey(R.string.api_key_prod)

Thank a lot for any help.

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 19 '10 at 04:32

8

You cannot both have the widget in your layout and set the API key in Java.

If you dynamically create the MapView via its constructor, you can supply the API key that way from Java code, but then you will need to dynamically add it to your layout.

That being said, I'd deal with the problem via your build process (e.g., based on debug/production build, copy the right XML file into the right directory).

answered Aug 19 '10 at 04:32

CommonsWare

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@CommonsWare Any suggestion on how we can change api key if we have dynamic flavour change within the app? – Akshay Bhat 'AB' May 25 '18 at 09:33
@AkshayBhat'AB': I do not know what a "dynamic flavour change" is. Also, please note that this question and its answers are from 2010, which is a very long time ago, and they refer to an older generation of the Maps SDK (Maps V1, compared to the current Maps V2). – CommonsWare May 25 '18 at 11:34
@CommonsWare "dynamic flavour" in the sense we have multiple base urls and multiple analytics tracking ids as well as multiple maps api keys. In the app we have a screen which allows to change the "flavour". I was able to change url and tracking ids on the fly except maps api key. So just wanted to know if we can reinitialize maps with different api keys dynamically in the app. – Akshay Bhat 'AB' May 29 '18 at 07:00
@AkshayBhat'AB': No. The Maps V2 API key is for the app, based on its `applicationId` and signing key. Neither of those values will be changing when the user, in the app, changes the flavour. – CommonsWare May 29 '18 at 10:31

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:25

5

This works for me.

This variant of MapView constructor is documented here: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android/reference/com/google/android/maps/MapView

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle arg0) {
    super.onCreate(arg0);
    String mapApiKey = <your choice logic here>
    mMapView = new MapView(this, mapApiKey);
    setContentView(mMapView);

answered Jul 31 '12 at 11:25

pete howard

76
1
3

Apparently this has been deprecated. – gianlucaparadise Jun 05 '19 at 07:55

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 27 '16 at 16:22

You should use Product Flavors.

For example:

android {
    ...


    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion 8
        versionCode 10
    }


    productFlavors {
        dev {
            resValue "string", "google_maps_api_key", "DEV_API_KEY"
         }

        prod {
            resValue "string", "google_maps_api_key", "PROD_API_KEY"
         }
    }
}

Vadim · Answer 4 · 2011-11-18T09:14:11.617

1

You have to create google maps object dynamically. Your layout will contaion only parent layout for creating object.

edited Nov 18 '11 at 09:14

answered Feb 20 '11 at 10:02

Vadim

1,582
2
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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 02 '22 at 22:42

For extra security put your API key and secrets in the local.properties file and access it using BuildConfig as follows:

In your top-level settings.gradle file, include the Gradle plugin portal, Google Maven repository, and Maven central repository under the pluginManagement block. The pluginManagement block must appear before any other statements in the script.
```
pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        gradlePluginPortal()
        google()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}
```
In Android Studio, open your project-level build.gradle file and add the following code to the dependencies element under buildscript:
```
plugins {
    // ...
    id 'com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin' version '2.0.1' apply false
}
```

Open your module-level build.gradle file and add the following code to the plugins element.

plugins {
    //  ...
    id 'com.google.android.libraries.mapsplatform.secrets-gradle-plugin'
}

Save the file and sync your project with Gradle.
Open the local.properties in your project level directory, and then add the following code. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your API key.
```
MAPS_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY
```
Save the file.
- Access the key within AndroidManifest.xml file: In your AndroidManifest.xml file, go to com.google.android.geo.API_KEY and update the android:value attribute with MAPS_API_KEY as follows:
```
  <meta-data
      android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
      android:value="${MAPS_API_KEY}" />
```
- Access the key within Java/Kotlin code: Just use BuildConfig as follows:
```
  BuildConfig.MAPS_API_KEY
```

More can be found in docs.

MapActivity: set APIKey programmatically

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