Creating Android Applications: Develop and Design

9. Determining Locations and Using Maps

One of the chief benefits of building any mobile application is the ability to provide location-aware data to users. Android is no exception. Taking advantage of your user’s location to help them make informed decisions should always be in the back of your mind. There is, however, a little to know about the basics of determining and using the device’s location. I will show you a few tricks for speedy acquisition and then quickly show you how to display Android’s built-in Google Maps view.

Location Basics

All location information on Android’s systems is reached through Android’s Location Manager class. There is, as you might have guessed, a permission requirement before you can access the user’s location ...