How to get current location in google maps using "nativescript-google-maps-sdk"?

Question

I am building an app on nativescript+Angular2. I have downloaded the "nativescript-google-maps-sdk" plugin from npm. If I enable setMyLocationEnabled(true), I get the "my-location" button on the upper right corner of the screen and clicking it takes me to my actual location.

What I would like to do is to get these coordinates programmaticaly, because I will need them for other operations (markers, proximity values etc.). Ran through their code, but couldn't find how they are getting this current location. gMap.getMyLocation() is deprecated, so I can't use that, based on what's written here: https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/maps/GoogleMap We should be using FusedLocationProviderApi. If this plugin isn't using it, then how does it acquire current location?

Can anyone shed some light?

mapReady(args) {
    console.log("Map Ready");

    var gMap = args.gMap;
    gMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);
    // gMap.getMyLocation(); deprecated
    // need to get current location coordinates, somehow...
}

Answer 1

The nativescript-google-maps-sdk plugin doesn't support getting your location from the device.

You need to get the location from nativescript-geolocation ( you are already doing that) and then pass that to the google-map.

If you check the google-maps plugin's AndroidManifest.xml, it doesn't have the permission to access the device's location.

Answer 2

So, as it turns out, you can get your location from your device in 2 ways:

• with built in android LocationManager
• with google play services location module, which uses FusedLocationProviderApi which is built on default android LocationManager

The difference, from what I've read, is that the googles' version is more advanced - it switches from different location modes (gps, wifi) automatically and saves up your battery.

So, in order to use the googles' way, we need to:

Import google play services location module (+ means newest version):

dependencies {
    compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:+'
}

Then initialise the play services API:

declare var com: any;
GoogleApiClient = com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient;
LocationServices = com.google.android.gms.location.LocationServices;
var dis = this; // writing in typescript, so this is reference to our current component where this code will lay

// Create an instance of GoogleAPIClient.
if (this.googleApiClient == null) {
    this.googleApiClient = new dis.GoogleApiClient.Builder(application.android.context)
        .addConnectionCallbacks(new dis.GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks({
            onConnected: function() {
                console.log("GoogleApiClient: CONNECTED");
            }.bind(this),
            onConnectionSuspended: function() {
                console.log("GoogleApiClient: SUSPENDED");
            }.bind(this)
        }))
        .addOnConnectionFailedListener(new dis.GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener({
            onConnectionFailed: function() {
                console.log("GoogleApiClient: CONNECTION ERROR");
            }.bind(this)
        }))
        .addApi(dis.LocationServices.API)
        .build();
}

this.googleApiClient.connect();