Showing nearby places with photos at any location in Google Maps Android API V2

In this article, we will develop an Android application which displays nearby places as a set of markers in Google Maps Android API V2 corresponding to the user touched location in the Google Maps and place type selected in the Spinner view.

On clicking a marker, the place details like place name, vicinity and photo ( if available )  will be shown in dialog fragment window.

Screenshots of the application is available towards the end of this article.

Some of the user defined classes that are used in this application are explained below :

MainActivity : This is the activity class which is opened when the application launches.

PlaceDialogFragment :  A dialog window which is opened on clicking a marker. It shows place name, vicinity and photo corresponding to the marked place.

PlacesTask : This is an inner class of the MainActivity class and is extending the class AsycTask. PlacesTask is used to fetch JSON data from Google Places Web Service in non-ui thread.

ParserTask : This is an inner class of the MainActivity class and is extending the class AsyncTask. ParserTask is used to parse the JSON data fetched from Google Places Web Service in a non-ui thread.

ImageDownloadTask : This is an inner class of PlaceDialogFragment and is extending the class AsyncTask. This is used to download image from Google Places Web Service.

Place : This class represents a nearby location with the information like latitude, longitude, place name, vicinity and photos. We are making this as a Parcelable class in order to retain the instances of this class during screen rotation.

Photo : This class represents a photo returned from Google Places Web Service  with the information like width, height, photo reference and attributions. This is also a parcelable class.

Attribution : This class is used to represent photo attributions. This is also a parcelable class.

PlaceJSONParser : A utility class to parse JSON data.

This application is developed in Eclipse (4.2.1) with ADT plugin (21.1.0) and Android SDK (21.1.0) and tested in Android devices with versions 2.3.6 ( Gingerbread ) and 4.0.4 ( Ice Cream Sandwich ).

1. Create a new Android application project namely “LocationNearbyPlacesPhotos”

Figure 1 : Create new Android application project namely "LocationNearbyPlacesPhotos"

2. Configure the project

Figure 2 : Configure the project

3. Design application launcher icon

Figure 3 : Design Application launcher icon

4. Create a blank activity

Figure 4 : Create a blank activity

5. Enter MainActivity details

Figure 5 : Enter MainActivity details

6. Download and configure Google Play Services Library in Eclipse

Please follow the given below link to setup Google Play Service library in Eclipse.

http://developer.android.com/google/play-services/setup.html

7. Add Google Play Services Library to this project

Figure 6 : Add Google Play Services Library to this project

8. Get the API key for Google Maps Android API V2

We need to get an API key from Google to use Google Maps in Android application.

Please follow the given below link to get the API key for Google Maps Android API v2.

https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android/start

9. Get the API key for Google Places API

We can create API key for Google Place API by clicking “Create new Browser key”  available at the “API Access” pane of the Google console URL : http://code.google.com/apis/console.

Also ensure that, “Places API” is enabled in the “Services” pane of the Google console.

10. Add Android Support library to this project

By default, Android support library (android-support-v4.jar ) is added to this project by Eclipse IDE to the directory libs. If it is not added, we can do it manually by doing the following steps :

• Open Project Explorer by Clicking “Window -> Show View -> Project Explorer”
• Right click this project
• Then from popup menu, Click “Android Tools -> Add Support Library “

11. Update the file res/values/strings.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
    <string name="app_name">LocationNearby</string>
    <string name="hello_world">Hello world!</string>
    <string name="menu_settings">Settings</string>
    <string name="str_btn_find">Find</string>

    <string-array name="place_type">
        <item>airport</item>
        <item>atm</item>
        <item>bank</item>
        <item>bus_station</item>
        <item>church</item>
        <item>doctor</item>
        <item>hospital</item>
        <item>mosque</item>
        <item>movie_theater</item>
        <item>hindu_temple</item>
        <item>restaurant</item>
    </string-array>

    <string-array name="place_type_name">
        <item>Airport</item>
        <item>ATM</item>
        <item>Bank</item>
        <item>Bus Station</item>
        <item>Church</item>
        <item>Doctor</item>
        <item>Hospital</item>
        <item>Mosque</item>
        <item>Movie Theater</item>
        <item>Hindu Temple</item>
        <item>Restaurant</item>
    </string-array>
</resources>

Note : Defining string arrays to populate Spinner Widget with Place types.

12. Update the layout file res/layout/activity_main.xml

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity" >

    <Spinner
        android:id="@+id/spr_place_type"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="60dp"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/btn_find"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="60dp"
        android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
        android:layout_toRightOf="@id/spr_place_type"
        android:text="@string/str_btn_find" />

    <fragment
        android:id="@+id/map"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/spr_place_type"
        class="com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment" />

</RelativeLayout>

13. Create the layout file res/layout/dialog_layout.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    andoid:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:gravity="center_horizontal" >

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tv_vicinity"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:maxLines="2" />

    <ViewFlipper
        android:id="@+id/flipper"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" >
    </ViewFlipper>

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tv_photos_count"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</LinearLayout>

14. Create the class “Attribution” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/Attribution.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos;

import android.os.Parcel;
import android.os.Parcelable;

public class Attribution implements Parcelable{

    // Attribution of the photo
    String mHtmlAttribution="";

    @Override
    public int describeContents() {
        return 0;
    }

    /** Writing Attribution object data to Parcel */
    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
        dest.writeString(mHtmlAttribution);
    }

    public Attribution(){
    }

    /** Initializing Attribution object from Parcel object */
    private Attribution(Parcel in){
        this.mHtmlAttribution = in.readString();
    }

    /** Generates an instance of Attribution class from Parcel */
    public static final Parcelable.Creator<Attribution> CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator<Attribution>() {

        @Override
        public Attribution createFromParcel(Parcel source) {
            return new Attribution(source);
        }

        @Override
        public Attribution[] newArray(int size) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return null;
        }
    };
}

15. Create the class “Photo” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/Photo.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos;

import android.os.Parcel;
import android.os.Parcelable;

public class Photo implements Parcelable{

    // Width of the Photo
    int mWidth=0;

    // Height of the Photo
    int mHeight=0;

    // Reference of the photo to be used in Google Web Services
    String mPhotoReference="";

    // Attributions of the photo
    // Attribution is a Parcelable class
    Attribution[] mAttributions={};

    @Override
    public int describeContents() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        return 0;
    }

    /** Writing Photo object data to Parcel */
    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
        dest.writeInt(mWidth);
        dest.writeInt(mHeight);
        dest.writeString(mPhotoReference);
        dest.writeParcelableArray(mAttributions, 0);
    }

    public Photo(){
    }

    /** Initializing Photo object from Parcel object */
    private Photo(Parcel in){
        this.mWidth = in.readInt();
        this.mHeight = in.readInt();
        this.mPhotoReference = in.readString();
        this.mAttributions = (Attribution[])in.readParcelableArray(Attribution.class.getClassLoader());
    }

    /** Generates an instance of Place class from Parcel */
    public static final Parcelable.Creator<Photo> CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator<Photo>() {
        @Override
        public Photo createFromParcel(Parcel source) {
            return new Photo(source);
        }

        @Override
        public Photo[] newArray(int size) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return null;
        }
    };
}

16. Create the class “Place” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/Place.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos;

import android.os.Parcel;
import android.os.Parcelable;

public class Place implements Parcelable{
    // Latitude of the place
    String mLat="";

    // Longitude of the place
    String mLng="";

    // Place Name
    String mPlaceName="";

    // Vicinity of the place
    String mVicinity="";

    // Photos of the place
    // Photo is a Parcelable class
    Photo[] mPhotos={};

    @Override
    public int describeContents() {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        return 0;
    }

    /** Writing Place object data to Parcel */
    @Override
    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
        dest.writeString(mLat);
        dest.writeString(mLng);
        dest.writeString(mPlaceName);
        dest.writeString(mVicinity);
        dest.writeParcelableArray(mPhotos, 0);
    }

    public Place(){
    }

    /** Initializing Place object from Parcel object */
    private Place(Parcel in){
        this.mLat = in.readString();
        this.mLng = in.readString();
        this.mPlaceName = in.readString();
        this.mVicinity = in.readString();
        this.mPhotos = (Photo[])in.readParcelableArray(Photo.class.getClassLoader());
    }

    /** Generates an instance of Place class from Parcel */
    public static final Parcelable.Creator<Place> CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator<Place>(){
        @Override
        public Place createFromParcel(Parcel source) {
            return new Place(source);
        }

        @Override
        public Place[] newArray(int size) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return null;
        }
    };
}

17. Create the class “PlaceJSONParser” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/PlaceJSONParser.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos;

import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;

import android.util.Log;

public class PlaceJSONParser {

    /** Receives a JSONObject and returns a list */
    public Place[] parse(JSONObject jObject){

        JSONArray jPlaces = null;
        try {
            /** Retrieves all the elements in the 'places' array */
            jPlaces = jObject.getJSONArray("results");
        } catch (JSONException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        /** Invoking getPlaces with the array of json object
        * where each json object represent a place
        */
        return getPlaces(jPlaces);
    }

    private Place[] getPlaces(JSONArray jPlaces){
        int placesCount = jPlaces.length();
        Place[] places = new Place[placesCount];

        /** Taking each place, parses and adds to list object */
        for(int i=0; i<placesCount;i++){
            try {
                /** Call getPlace with place JSON object to parse the place */
                places[i] = getPlace((JSONObject)jPlaces.get(i));

            } catch (JSONException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
        return places;
    }

    /** Parsing the Place JSON object */
    private Place getPlace(JSONObject jPlace){

        Place place = new Place();

        try {
            // Extracting Place name, if available
            if(!jPlace.isNull("name")){
                place.mPlaceName = jPlace.getString("name");
            }

            // Extracting Place Vicinity, if available
            if(!jPlace.isNull("vicinity")){
                place.mVicinity = jPlace.getString("vicinity");
            }

            if(!jPlace.isNull("photos")){
                JSONArray photos = jPlace.getJSONArray("photos");
                place.mPhotos = new Photo[photos.length()];
                for(int i=0;i<photos.length();i++){
                    place.mPhotos[i] = new Photo();
                    place.mPhotos[i].mWidth = ((JSONObject)photos.get(i)).getInt("width");
                    place.mPhotos[i].mHeight = ((JSONObject)photos.get(i)).getInt("height");
                    place.mPhotos[i].mPhotoReference = ((JSONObject)photos.get(i)).getString("photo_reference");
                    JSONArray attributions = ((JSONObject)photos.get(i)).getJSONArray("html_attributions");
                    place.mPhotos[i].mAttributions = new Attribution[attributions.length()];
                    for(int j=0;j<attributions.length();j++){
                        place.mPhotos[i].mAttributions[j] = new Attribution();
                        place.mPhotos[i].mAttributions[j].mHtmlAttribution = attributions.getString(j);
                    }
                }
            }

            place.mLat = jPlace.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location").getString("lat");
            place.mLng = jPlace.getJSONObject("geometry").getJSONObject("location").getString("lng");

        } catch (JSONException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
            Log.d("EXCEPTION", e.toString());
        }
        return place;
    }
}

18. Create the class “PlaceDialogFragment” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/PlaceDialogFragment.java

package in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;

import android.graphics.Bitmap;
import android.graphics.BitmapFactory;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.DialogFragment;
import android.util.DisplayMetrics;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;
import android.widget.ViewFlipper;

// Defining DialogFragment class to show the place details with photo
public class PlaceDialogFragment extends DialogFragment{

    TextView mTVPhotosCount = null;
    TextView mTVVicinity = null;
    ViewFlipper mFlipper = null;
    Place mPlace = null;
    DisplayMetrics mMetrics = null;

    public PlaceDialogFragment(){
        super();
    }

    public PlaceDialogFragment(Place place, DisplayMetrics dm){
        super();
        this.mPlace = place;
        this.mMetrics = dm;
    }

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        // For retaining the fragment on screen rotation
        setRetainInstance(true);
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    }

    @Override
    public View onCreateView(LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container,
                            Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        View v = inflater.inflate(R.layout.dialog_layout, null);

        // Getting reference to ViewFlipper
        mFlipper = (ViewFlipper) v.findViewById(R.id.flipper);

        // Getting reference to TextView to display photo count
        mTVPhotosCount = (TextView) v.findViewById(R.id.tv_photos_count);

        // Getting reference to TextView to display place vicinity
        mTVVicinity = (TextView) v.findViewById(R.id.tv_vicinity);

        if(mPlace!=null){

            // Setting the title for the Dialog Fragment
            getDialog().setTitle(mPlace.mPlaceName);

            // Array of references of the photos
            Photo[] photos = mPlace.mPhotos;

            // Setting Photos count
            mTVPhotosCount.setText("Photos available : " + photos.length);

            // Setting the vicinity of the place
            mTVVicinity.setText(mPlace.mVicinity);

            // Creating an array of ImageDownloadTask to download photos
            ImageDownloadTask[] imageDownloadTask = new ImageDownloadTask[photos.length];

            int width = (int)(mMetrics.widthPixels*3)/4;
            int height = (int)(mMetrics.heightPixels*1)/2;

            String url = "https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/photo?";
            String key = "key=YOUR_BROWSER_KEY";
            String sensor = "sensor=true";
            String maxWidth="maxwidth=" + width;
            String maxHeight = "maxheight=" + height;
            url = url + "&" + key + "&" + sensor + "&" + maxWidth + "&" + maxHeight;

            // Traversing through all the photoreferences
            for(int i=0;i<photos.length;i++){
                // Creating a task to download i-th photo
                imageDownloadTask[i] = new ImageDownloadTask();

                String photoReference = "photoreference="+photos[i].mPhotoReference;

                // URL for downloading the photo from Google Services
                url = url + "&" + photoReference;

                // Downloading i-th photo from the above url
                imageDownloadTask[i].execute(url);
            }
        }
        return v;
    }

    @Override
    public void onDestroyView() {
        if (getDialog() != null && getRetainInstance())
            getDialog().setDismissMessage(null);
            super.onDestroyView();
    }

    private Bitmap downloadImage(String strUrl) throws IOException{
        Bitmap bitmap=null;
        InputStream iStream = null;
        try{
            URL url = new URL(strUrl);

            /** Creating an http connection to communcate with url */
            HttpURLConnection urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();

            /** Connecting to url */
            urlConnection.connect();

            /** Reading data from url */
            iStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();

            /** Creating a bitmap from the stream returned from the url */
            bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeStream(iStream);

        }catch(Exception e){
            Log.d("Exception while downloading url", e.toString());
        }finally{
            iStream.close();
        }
        return bitmap;
    }

    private class ImageDownloadTask extends AsyncTask<String, Integer, Bitmap>{
        Bitmap bitmap = null;
        @Override
        protected Bitmap doInBackground(String... url) {
            try{
                // Starting image download
                bitmap = downloadImage(url[0]);
            }catch(Exception e){
                Log.d("Background Task",e.toString());
            }
            return bitmap;
        }

        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(Bitmap result) {
            // Creating an instance of ImageView to display the downloaded image
            ImageView iView = new ImageView(getActivity().getBaseContext());

            // Setting the downloaded image in ImageView
            iView.setImageBitmap(result);

            // Adding the ImageView to ViewFlipper
            mFlipper.addView(iView);

            // Showing download completion message
            Toast.makeText(getActivity().getBaseContext(), "Image downloaded successfully", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        }
    }
}

Note : Ensure that “YOUR_BROWSER_KEY” at the line 84 is replaced with the api key obtained in Step 9 

19. Update the class “MainActivity” in the file src/in/wptrafficanalyzer/locationnearbyplacesphotos/MainActivity.java

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.HashMap;

import org.json.JSONObject;

import android.app.Dialog;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentActivity;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentManager;
import android.support.v4.app.FragmentTransaction;
import android.util.DisplayMetrics;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.Spinner;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.common.ConnectionResult;
import com.google.android.gms.common.GooglePlayServicesUtil;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap.OnMapClickListener;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.GoogleMap.OnMarkerClickListener;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.SupportMapFragment;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.BitmapDescriptorFactory;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.LatLng;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.Marker;
import com.google.android.gms.maps.model.MarkerOptions;
public class MainActivity extends FragmentActivity{

    // GoogleMap
    GoogleMap mGoogleMap;

    // Spinner in which the location types are stored
    Spinner mSprPlaceType;

    // A button to find the near by places
    Button mBtnFind=null;

    // Stores near by places
    Place[] mPlaces = null;

    // A String array containing place types sent to Google Place service
    String[] mPlaceType=null;

    // A String array containing place types displayed to user
    String[] mPlaceTypeName=null;

    // The location at which user touches the Google Map
    LatLng mLocation=null;

    // Links marker id and place object
    HashMap<String, Place> mHMReference = new HashMap<String, Place>();

    // Specifies the drawMarker() to draw the marker with default color
    private static final float UNDEFINED_COLOR = -1;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // Array of place types
        mPlaceType = getResources().getStringArray(R.array.place_type);

        // Array of place type names
        mPlaceTypeName = getResources().getStringArray(R.array.place_type_name);

        // Creating an array adapter with an array of Place types
        // to populate the spinner
        ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
                                                                android.R.layout.simple_spinner_dropdown_item,
                                                                 mPlaceTypeName);

        // Getting reference to the Spinner
        mSprPlaceType = (Spinner) findViewById(R.id.spr_place_type);

        // Setting adapter on Spinner to set place types
        mSprPlaceType.setAdapter(adapter);

        // Getting reference to Find Button
        mBtnFind = ( Button ) findViewById(R.id.btn_find);

        // Getting Google Play availability status
        int status = GooglePlayServicesUtil.isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(getBaseContext());

        if(status!=ConnectionResult.SUCCESS){ // Google Play Services are not available

            int requestCode = 10;
            Dialog dialog = GooglePlayServicesUtil.getErrorDialog(status, this, requestCode);
            dialog.show();

        }else { // Google Play Services are available

            // Getting reference to the SupportMapFragment
            SupportMapFragment fragment = ( SupportMapFragment) getSupportFragmentManager().findFragmentById(R.id.map);

            // Getting Google Map
            mGoogleMap = fragment.getMap();

            // Enabling MyLocation in Google Map
            mGoogleMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);

            // Handling screen rotation
            if(savedInstanceState !=null) {

                // Removes all the existing links from marker id to place object
                mHMReference.clear();

                //If near by places are already saved
                if(savedInstanceState.containsKey("places")){

                    // Retrieving the array of place objects
                    mPlaces = (Place[]) savedInstanceState.getParcelableArray("places");

                    // Traversing through each near by place object
                    for(int i=0;i<mPlaces.length;i++){

                        // Getting latitude and longitude of the i-th place
                        LatLng point = new LatLng(Double.parseDouble(mPlaces[i].mLat),
                        Double.parseDouble(mPlaces[i].mLng));

                        // Drawing the marker corresponding to the i-th place
                        Marker m = drawMarker(point,UNDEFINED_COLOR);

                        // Linkng i-th place and its marker id
                        mHMReference.put(m.getId(), mPlaces[i]);
                    }
                }

                // If a touched location is already saved
                if(savedInstanceState.containsKey("location")){

                    // Retrieving the touched location and setting in member variable
                    mLocation = (LatLng) savedInstanceState.getParcelable("location");

                   // Drawing a marker at the touched location
                   drawMarker(mLocation, BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_GREEN);
               }
           }

            // Setting click event lister for the find button
            mBtnFind.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {

                @Override
                public void onClick(View v) {

                    int selectedPosition = mSprPlaceType.getSelectedItemPosition();
                    String type = mPlaceType[selectedPosition];

                    mGoogleMap.clear();

                    if(mLocation==null){
                        Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), "Please mark a location", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        return;
                    }

                    drawMarker(mLocation, BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_GREEN);

                    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/nearbysearch/json?");
                    sb.append("location="+mLocation.latitude+","+mLocation.longitude);
                    sb.append("&radius=5000");
                    sb.append("&types="+type);
                    sb.append("&sensor=true");
                    sb.append("&key=YOUR_BROWSER_KEY");

                    // Creating a new non-ui thread task to download Google place json data
                    PlacesTask placesTask = new PlacesTask();

                    // Invokes the "doInBackground()" method of the class PlaceTask
                    placesTask.execute(sb.toString());
                }
            });

            // Map Click listener
            mGoogleMap.setOnMapClickListener(new OnMapClickListener() {

                @Override
                public void onMapClick(LatLng point) {

                    // Clears all the existing markers
                    mGoogleMap.clear();

                    // Setting the touched location in member variable
                    mLocation = point;

                    // Drawing a marker at the touched location
                    drawMarker(mLocation,BitmapDescriptorFactory.HUE_GREEN);
                }
            });

            // Marker click listener
            mGoogleMap.setOnMarkerClickListener(new OnMarkerClickListener() {

                @Override
                public boolean onMarkerClick(Marker marker) {

                    // If touched at User input location
                    if(!mHMReference.containsKey(marker.getId()))
                        return false;

                    // Getting place object corresponding to the currently clicked Marker
                    Place place = mHMReference.get(marker.getId());

                    // Creating an instance of DisplayMetrics
                    DisplayMetrics dm = new DisplayMetrics();

                    // Getting the screen display metrics
                    getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(dm);

                    // Creating a dialog fragment to display the photo
                    PlaceDialogFragment dialogFragment = new PlaceDialogFragment(place,dm);

                    // Getting a reference to Fragment Manager
                    FragmentManager fm = getSupportFragmentManager();

                    // Starting Fragment Transaction
                    FragmentTransaction ft = fm.beginTransaction();

                    // Adding the dialog fragment to the transaction
                    ft.add(dialogFragment, "TAG");

                    // Committing the fragment transaction
                    ft.commit();

                    return false;
                }
            });
        }
    }

    /**
    * A callback function, executed on screen rotation
    */
    @Override
    protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle outState) {

        // Saving all the near by places objects
        if(mPlaces!=null)
            outState.putParcelableArray("places", mPlaces);

        // Saving the touched location
        if(mLocation!=null)
            outState.putParcelable("location", mLocation);

        super.onSaveInstanceState(outState);
    }

    /** A method to download json data from argument url */
    private String downloadUrl(String strUrl) throws IOException{
        String data = "";
        InputStream iStream = null;
        HttpURLConnection urlConnection = null;
        try{
            URL url = new URL(strUrl);

            // Creating an http connection to communicate with url
            urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();

            // Connecting to url
            urlConnection.connect();

            // Reading data from url
            iStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();

            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(iStream));

            StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();

            String line = "";
            while( ( line = br.readLine()) != null){
                sb.append(line);
            }

            data = sb.toString();

            br.close();

        }catch(Exception e){
            Log.d("Exception while downloading url", e.toString());
        }finally{
            iStream.close();
            urlConnection.disconnect();
        }
        return data;
    }
    /** A class, to download Google Places */
    private class PlacesTask extends AsyncTask<String, Integer, String>{

        String data = null;

        // Invoked by execute() method of this object
        @Override
        protected String doInBackground(String... url) {
            try{
                data = downloadUrl(url[0]);
            }catch(Exception e){
                Log.d("Background Task",e.toString());
            }
            return data;
        }

        // Executed after the complete execution of doInBackground() method
        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(String result){
            ParserTask parserTask = new ParserTask();

            // Start parsing the Google places in JSON format
            // Invokes the "doInBackground()" method of ParserTask
            parserTask.execute(result);
        }
    }

    /** A class to parse the Google Places in JSON format */
    private class ParserTask extends AsyncTask<String, Integer, Place[]>{

        JSONObject jObject;

        // Invoked by execute() method of this object
        @Override
        protected Place[] doInBackground(String... jsonData) {

            Place[] places = null;
            PlaceJSONParser placeJsonParser = new PlaceJSONParser();

            try{
                jObject = new JSONObject(jsonData[0]);
                /** Getting the parsed data as a List construct */
                places = placeJsonParser.parse(jObject);

            }catch(Exception e){
                Log.d("Exception",e.toString());
            }
            return places;
        }

        // Executed after the complete execution of doInBackground() method
        @Override
        protected void onPostExecute(Place[] places){

            mPlaces = places;

            for(int i=0;i< places.length ;i++){
                Place place = places[i];

                // Getting latitude of the place
                double lat = Double.parseDouble(place.mLat);

                // Getting longitude of the place
                double lng = Double.parseDouble(place.mLng);

                LatLng latLng = new LatLng(lat, lng);

                Marker m = drawMarker(latLng,UNDEFINED_COLOR);

                // Adding place reference to HashMap with marker id as HashMap key
                // to get its reference in infowindow click event listener
                mHMReference.put(m.getId(), place);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
    * Drawing marker at latLng with color
    */
    private Marker drawMarker(LatLng latLng,float color){
        // Creating a marker
        MarkerOptions markerOptions = new MarkerOptions();

        // Setting the position for the marker
        markerOptions.position(latLng);

        if(color != UNDEFINED_COLOR)
            markerOptions.icon(BitmapDescriptorFactory.defaultMarker(color));

        // Placing a marker on the touched position
        Marker m = mGoogleMap.addMarker(markerOptions);

        return m;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
        return true;
    }
}

Note : Ensure that “YOUR_BROWSER_KEY” at the line 173 is replaced with the api key obtained in Step 9

20. Update the file AndroidManifest.xml

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

    <uses-sdk
        android:minSdkVersion="8"
        android:targetSdkVersion="17" />

    <permission
        android:name="in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"
        android:protectionLevel="signature"/>

    <uses-permission android:name="in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"/>

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

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

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme" >
        <activity
            android:name="in.wptrafficanalyzer.locationnearbyplacesphotos.MainActivity"
            android:label="@string/app_name" >
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>

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

Note : Ensure that “YOUR_BROWSER_KEY” at the line 44 is replaced with the api key obtained in Step 8 

21. Screenshots of the application in Android 4.0.4 ( Ice Cream Sandwich )

Figure 7 : Showing nearby restaurants

Figure 8 : Displaying photo attached with a Restaurant

22. Screenshots of the application in Android 2.3.6 ( Ginger Bread )

Figure 9 : Showing nearby restaurants

Figure 10 : Displaying a photo on clicking the marker

23. Download Source code