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Activate the Google Places API for Android

To get you started we'll guide you through the Google Developers Console to do a few things first:

  1. Create or choose a project
  2. Activate the Google Places API for Android
  3. Create appropriate keys
Continue

Signup and API Keys

This guide tells you what you need to do before you can start working with the Google Places API for Android.

Overview

To use the Google Places API for Android, you must add a Google API key to your app. The type of API key you need is an Android key.

All Android apps are signed with a digital certificate for which you hold the private key. Refer to the Android guide to signing your applications for more information about digital certificates.

Android API keys are linked to specific certificate/package pairs. You only need one key for each certificate, no matter how many users you have for the app.

Getting a key for your app requires several steps. These steps are outlined below, and described in detail in the following sections.

  1. Get information about your app's certificate.
  2. Register a project in the Google Developers Console and add the Google Places API for Android as a service for the project.
  3. Request a key.
  4. Add the key to your app by adding an element to your app manifest.

Find your app's certificate information

The API key is based on a short form of your app's digital certificate, known as its SHA-1 fingerprint. To display the SHA-1 fingerprint for your certificate, first ensure that you are using the right certificate. You may have two certificates:

  • A debug certificate: The Android SDK tools generate this certificate automatically when you do a debug build. Only use this certificate with apps that you're testing. Do not attempt to publish an app that's signed with a debug certificate. The debug certificate is described in more detail in Signing in Debug Mode in the Android Developer Documentation.
  • A release certificate: The Android SDK tools generate this certificate when you do a release build. You can also generate this certificate using the keytool program. Use this certificate when you are ready to release your app to the world.

Follow the steps below to display a certificate's SHA-1 fingerprint using the keytool program with the -v parameter. For more information about Keytool, see the Oracle documentation.

Debug certificate

Displaying the debug certificate fingerprint

  1. Locate your debug keystore file. The file name is debug.keystore, and is created the first time you build your project. By default, it is stored in the same directory as your Android Virtual Device (AVD) files:

    • OS X and Linux: ~/.android/
    • Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\Users\your_user_name\.android\

  2. List the SHA-1 fingerprint:

    • For Linux or OS X, open a terminal window and enter the following:

      keytool -list -v -keystore ~/.android/debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

    • For Windows Vista and Windows 7, run:

      keytool -list -v -keystore "%USERPROFILE%\.android\debug.keystore" -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

You should see output similar to this:

Alias name: androiddebugkey
Creation date: Jan 01, 2013
Entry type: PrivateKeyEntry
Certificate chain length: 1
Certificate[1]:
Owner: CN=Android Debug, O=Android, C=US
Issuer: CN=Android Debug, O=Android, C=US
Serial number: 4aa9b300
Valid from: Mon Jan 01 08:04:04 UTC 2013 until: Mon Jan 01 18:04:04 PST 2033
Certificate fingerprints:
     MD5:  AE:9F:95:D0:A6:86:89:BC:A8:70:BA:34:FF:6A:AC:F9
     SHA1: BB:0D:AC:74:D3:21:E1:43:07:71:9B:62:90:AF:A1:66:6E:44:5D:75
     Signature algorithm name: SHA1withRSA
     Version: 3
Release certificate

Displaying the release certificate fingerprint

  1. Locate your release certificate keystore file. There is no default location or name for the release keystore. If you don't specify one when you build your app for release, the build will leave your .apk unsigned, and you'll have to sign it before you can publish it. For the release certificate, you also need the certificate's alias and the passwords for the keystore and the certificate. You can list the aliases for all the keys in a keystore by entering:

    keytool -list -keystore your_keystore_name

    Replace your_keystore_name with the fully-qualified path and name of the keystore, including the .keystore extension. You'll be prompted for the keystore's password. Then keytool displays all the aliases in the keystore.

  2. Enter the following at a terminal or command prompt:

    keytool -list -v -keystore your_keystore_name -alias your_alias_name

    Replace your_keystore_name with the fully-qualified path and name of the keystore, including the .keystore extension. Replace your_alias_name with the alias that you assigned to the certificate when you created it.

You should see output similar to this:

Alias name: <alias_name>
Creation date: Feb 02, 2013
Entry type: PrivateKeyEntry
Certificate chain length: 1
Certificate[1]:
Owner: CN=Android Debug, O=Android, C=US
Issuer: CN=Android Debug, O=Android, C=US
Serial number: 4cc9b300
Valid from: Mon Feb 02 08:01:04 UTC 2013 until: Mon Feb 02 18:05:04 PST 2033
Certificate fingerprints:
    MD5:  AE:9F:95:D0:A6:86:89:BC:A8:70:BA:34:FF:6B:AC:F9
    SHA1: BB:0D:AC:74:D3:21:E1:43:67:71:9B:62:90:AF:A1:66:6E:44:5D:75
    Signature algorithm name: SHA1withRSA
    Version: 3

The line that begins SHA1 contains the certificate's SHA-1 fingerprint. The fingerprint is the sequence of 20 two-digit hexadecimal numbers separated by colons.

Get an API key from the Google Developers Console

To get started using the Google Places API for Android, click the button below, which takes you to the Google Developers Console, guides you through the process, and activates the Google Places API for Android automatically.

Get a Key

Alternatively, follow these steps to get an API key:

  1. Go to the Google Developers Console.
  2. Select a project, or create a new one.
  3. Click Continue to enable the Google Places API for Android.
  4. On the Credentials page, create an Android key and set the API credentials.
    Note: If you have an existing Android key, you may use that key.

  5. In the create key dialog, restrict usage to your Android apps—enter your app's SHA-1 fingerprint and package name. For example:

    BB:0D:AC:74:D3:21:E1:43:67:71:9B:62:91:AF:A1:66:6E:44:5D:75
    com.example.android.places-example
  6. Click Create.

    Your new Android API key appears in the list of API keys for your project. An API key is a string of characters, something like this:

    AIzaSyBdVl-cTICSwYKrZ95SuvNw7dbMuDt1KG0

Now that you have an API key, you can add it to your app's manifest as described in the getting-started guide.

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