Adding permissions

Three permissions are required for our map application to work properly.

The permissions should be added inside the <manifest> element. The four permissions are as follows:

Let's now take a look at what these permissions are for.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES" />

Specifying the Google Play services version

The Google Play services version must be specified in manifest for the functioning of maps. It must be within the <application> element.

Add the following code to AndroidManifest.xml:

<meta-data android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
           android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />

Specifying the version 2 of OpenGL ES

Android Google maps uses OpenGL to render the map. Google maps will not work on devices that do not support version 2 of OpenGL. Hence, it is necessary to specify this in the manifest.

It must be added within the <manifest> element similar to permissions. Add the following code to AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-feature
        android:glEsVersion="0x00020000"
        android:required="true"/>

The preceding code specifies that version 2 of OpenGL is required for the functioning of our application.

Defining the API key

The Google maps API key is required to provide authorization to the Google maps service. It must be specified within the <application> element.

Add the following code to AndroidManifest.xml:

<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY"
    android:value="API_KEY"/>

The API_KEY value must be replaced with the API key we noted earlier in the Google Developer Console.

The complete AndroidManifest structure after adding permissions, specifying OpenGL, the Google Play services version, and defining the API key, is given as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.raj.sampleapplication"
    android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0" >


    <uses-feature
            android:glEsVersion="0x00020000"
          android:required="true"/>


    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    <uses-permission     android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES" />



   <application>
   
   
   
   <meta-data android:name="com.google.android.gms.version"
              android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />
   <meta-data
                 android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY"
                  android:value="AIzaSyBVMWTLk4uKcXSHBJTzrxsrPNSjfL18lk0"/>
   
   
   </application>
</manifest>