I’ve gotten down to the nitty gritty of actually making an app that uses Google Maps, which means finally trying to get a map on the screen and at least pick up my location automatically.

To get a basic Google Maps app up and running, its surprisingly easy! Yes, to just have the app pinpoint your location using GPS, its shockingly simple! The reason for this is that Google have done all the hardwork for you. All we, as developers, have to do is call the javascript file on the Google servers and hey presto. For example: Geolocation test . Yes, its that easy, providing you have internet access, obviously! The source code, if needed, can be found here: Maps source

In case you’re interested, there are lots of examples on Googles website here: Google Map Examples

So, now we have a basic application that detects the users location and centres the map on it. However, as you can see in the first link above, the zoom level is a bit too high. Also, we will want to add markers on the street corresponding to the coordinates of the bike stations, or whatever place of interest you’re intending to map. This is more complicated and will be covered in the next section! 😀