NativeScript plugin for the Google Maps SDK

This is a cross-platform (iOS & Android) Nativescript plugin for the Google Maps API.

Prerequisites

iOS - Cocoapods must be installed.

Android - The latest version of the Google Play Services SDK must be installed.

Google Maps API Key - Visit the Google Developers Console, create a project, and enable the Google Maps Android API and Google Maps SDK for iOS APIs. Then, under credentials, create an API key.

Installation

Install the plugin using the NativeScript CLI tooling:

Nativescript 7+

tns plugin add @souriscloud/nativescript-google-maps-sdk

Nativescript < 7

tns plugin add [email protected]

Setup

See demo code included here

See a live demo here

Configure API Key for Android

Nativescript < 4

Start by copying the necessary template resource files in to the Android app resources folder:

cp -r node_modules/nativescript-google-maps-sdk/platforms/android/res/values app/App_Resources/Android/

Next, modify your app/App_Resources/Android/values/nativescript_google_maps_api.xml file by uncommenting the nativescript_google_maps_api_key string, and replace PUT_API_KEY_HERE with the API key you created earlier.

Finally, modify your app/App_Resources/Android/AndroidManifest.xml file by inserting the following in between the <application> tags:

<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
    android:value="@string/nativescript_google_maps_api_key" />

Nativescript 4+

Start by copying the necessary template resource files in to the Android app resources folder:

cp -r node_modules/nativescript-google-maps-sdk/platforms/android/res/values app/App_Resources/Android/src/main/res

Next, modify your app/App_Resources/Android/src/main/res/values/nativescript_google_maps_api.xml file by uncommenting the nativescript_google_maps_api_key string, and replace PUT_API_KEY_HERE with the API key you created earlier.

Finally, modify your app/App_Resources/Android/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml file by inserting the following in between your <application> tags:

<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
    android:value="@string/nativescript_google_maps_api_key" />

The plugin will default to the latest available version of the Google Play Services SDK for Android. If you need to change the version, you can add a project.ext property, googlePlayServicesVersion, like so:

//   /app/App_Resources/Android/app.gradle

project.ext {
    googlePlayServicesVersion = "+"
}

Configure API Key for iOS

In your app.js, use the following code to add your API key (replace PUT_API_KEY_HERE with the API key you created earlier):

if (application.ios) {
    GMSServices.provideAPIKey("PUT_API_KEY_HERE");
}

If you are using Angular, modify your app.module.ts as follows:

import * as platform from "platform";
declare var GMSServices: any;

....

if (platform.isIOS) { 
    GMSServices.provideAPIKey("PUT_API_KEY_HERE");
}

Adding the MapView

Modify your view by adding the xmlns:maps="nativescript-google-maps-sdk" namespace to your <Page> tag, then use the <maps:mapView /> tag to create the MapView:

<!-- /app/main-page.xml -->

<Page 
    xmlns="http://www.nativescript.org/tns.xsd"
    xmlns:maps="nativescript-google-maps-sdk"
>
    <GridLayout>
        <maps:mapView
            latitude="{{ latitude }}"
            longitude="{{ longitude }}"
            zoom="{{ zoom }}"
            bearing="{{ bearing }}" 
            tilt="{{ tilt }}"
            mapAnimationsEnabled="{{ mapAnimationsEnabled }}"
            padding="{{ padding }}"
            mapReady="onMapReady"  
            markerSelect="onMarkerSelect"
            markerBeginDragging="onMarkerBeginDragging"
            markerEndDragging="onMarkerEndDragging"
            markerDrag="onMarkerDrag"
            cameraChanged="onCameraChanged" 
            cameraMove="onCameraMove"
        />
    </GridLayout>
</Page>

Properties

The following properties are available for adjusting the camera view:

Events

The following events are available:

Native Map Object

The MapView's gMap property gives you access to the platform's native map object–––consult the appropriate SDK reference on how to use it: iOS | Android

UI Settings

You can adjust the map's UI settings after the mapReady event has fired by configuring the following properties on mapView.settings:

Styling

Use gMap.setStyle(style); to set the map's styling (Google Maps Style Reference | Styling Wizard).

Angular

Use this.mapView.setStyle(<Style>JSON.parse(this.styles)); inside of the onMapReady event handler. In this example, this.mapView is the MapView object and this.styles is a reference to a JSON file that was created using the Styling Wizard. The <Style> type was imported from the plugin as { Style }.

Basic Example

//  /app/main-page.js

var mapsModule = require("nativescript-google-maps-sdk");

function onMapReady(args) {
    var mapView = args.object;
    
    console.log("Setting a marker...");
    var marker = new mapsModule.Marker();
    marker.position = mapsModule.Position.positionFromLatLng(-33.86, 151.20);
    marker.title = "Sydney";
    marker.snippet = "Australia";
    marker.userData = { index : 1};
    mapView.addMarker(marker);
    
    // Disabling zoom gestures
    mapView.settings.zoomGesturesEnabled = false;
}

function onMarkerSelect(args) {
    console.log("Clicked on " +args.marker.title);
}

function onCameraChanged(args) {
    console.log("Camera changed: " + JSON.stringify(args.camera)); 
}

function onCameraMove(args) {
    console.log("Camera moving: "+JSON.stringify(args.camera));
}

exports.onMapReady = onMapReady;
exports.onMarkerSelect = onMarkerSelect;
exports.onCameraChanged = onCameraChanged;
exports.onCameraMove = onCameraMove;

Custom Info Windows (Beta)

[!WARNING] if you are using NS7 infoWindowTemplate won't work from a xml file! a temporary solution will be declaring infoWindow Template from the code behind like this :

var mapView = null;

export function onMapReady(args) {
    mapView = args.object;
    mapView.infoWindowTemplate = `<StackLayout orientation="vertical" width="200" height="150" >
        <Label text="{{title}}" className="title" width="125"   />
        <Label text="{{snippet}}" className="snippet" width="125"   />
        <Label text="{{'LAT: ' + position.latitude}}" className="infoWindowCoordinates"  />
        <Label text="{{'LON: ' + position.longitude}}" className="infoWindowCoordinates"  />
    </StackLayout>`;
}

To use custom marker info windows, define a template in your view like so:

<!-- /app/main-page.xml -->
<Page 
    xmlns="http://www.nativescript.org/tns.xsd"
    xmlns:maps="nativescript-google-maps-sdk"
>
  <GridLayout>
       <maps:mapView mapReady="onMapReady">
            <!-- Default Info Window Template -->       		
            <maps:mapView.infoWindowTemplate>
                <StackLayout orientation="vertical" width="200" height="150" >
                    <Label text="{{title}}" className="title" width="125"   />
                    <Label text="{{snippet}}" className="snippet" width="125"   />
                    <Label text="{{'LAT: ' + position.latitude}}" className="infoWindowCoordinates"  />
                    <Label text="{{'LON: ' + position.longitude}}" className="infoWindowCoordinates"  />
                </StackLayout>
            </maps:mapView.infoWindowTemplate>
            <!-- Keyed Info Window Templates -->   
            <maps:mapView.infoWindowTemplates>
                <template key="testWindow">
                    <StackLayout orientation="vertical" width="160" height="160" >
                        <Image src="res://icon" stretch="fill"  height="100" width="100" className="infoWindowImage" />
                        <Label text="Let's Begin!" className="title" />
                    </StackLayout>
                </template>
            </maps:mapView.infoWindowTemplates>
        </maps:mapView>
  </GridLayout>
</Page>

...and set the infoWindowTemplate property like so:

var marker = new mapsModule.Marker();
marker.infoWindowTemplate = 'testWindow';

This will configure the marker to use the info window template with the given key. If no template with that key is found, then it will use the default info window template.

** Known issue: remote images fail to display in iOS info windows (local images work fine)

Usage with Angular

See Angular demo code included here

// /app/map-example.component.ts

import {Component, ElementRef, ViewChild} from '@angular/core';
import {registerElement} from "nativescript-angular/element-registry";

// Important - must register MapView plugin in order to use in Angular templates
registerElement("MapView", () => require("nativescript-google-maps-sdk").MapView);

@Component({
    selector: 'map-example-component',
    template: `
    <GridLayout>
        <MapView (mapReady)="onMapReady($event)"></MapView>
    </GridLayout>
    `
})
export class MapExampleComponent {

    @ViewChild("MapView") mapView: ElementRef;

    //Map events
    onMapReady = (event) => {
        console.log("Map Ready");
    };
}

Angular 8 Support

If you are using Angular 8, there is a temporary fix needed for the @ViewChild directive, and will not be needed in Angular 9:

@ViewChild("MapView", {static: false}) mapView: ElementRef;

Clustering Support (Issue #57)

There is a seperate plugin in development thanks to @naderio: see nativescript-google-maps-utils.

Get Help

Checking with the Nativescript community is your best bet for getting help.

If you have a question, start by seeing if anyone else has encountered the scenario on Stack Overflow. If you cannot find any information, try asking the question yourself. Make sure to add any details needed to recreate the issue and include the “NativeScript” and "google-maps" tags, so your question is visible to the NativeScript community.

If you need more help than the Q&A format Stack Overflow can provide, try joining the NativeScript community Slack. The Slack chat is a great place to get help troubleshooting problems, as well as connect with other NativeScript developers.

Finally, if you have found an issue with the NativeScript Google Maps SDK itself, or requesting a new feature, please report them here Issues.