Learning Mobile App Development: A Hands-on Guide to Building Apps with iOS and Android

7. Maps and Location in Android

Smartphones and tablets are mobile computing devices. Both parts of that description are why location and maps are important components of many apps. Useful computation can be performed based on the device location. That location can change much faster than the location of a traditional computing device. This enables the app to very quickly change its behavior as it moves to different locations. Knowing how to capture and display location information can help you build powerful apps. This chapter describes how to take advantage of location information within your app. Location sensors can be accessed and used directly through the Android SDK. However maps require more work. This chapter also teaches you how to ...