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How to add your application to the "share this place" list in Google maps

Answer 1

+2 A:

I figured it out. Here's a sample manifest.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.example.yourapp" android:versionCode="1"
    android:versionName="1.0">
    <application android:icon="@drawable/icon" android:label="@string/app_name">
        <activity android:name=".YourApp" android:label="@string/app_name">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.SEND"></action>
                <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
                <data android:mimeType="text/plain" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>
    <uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="4" />
</manifest>

Simply add the SEND intent filter just as it is above to your activity. The "share this place" simply performs a "SEND" intent with the mime type of "text/plain". If you register an intent filter for that type, then your app will show up in the list. Mine did. =)

HenryAdamsJr 2010-09-21 04:31:24

Thanks Henry! I will give this a try as soon as the alligators allow.

stanlick 2010-09-21 14:38:30

Sweet, that worked great! Now then, how is it working? Does my app have to be running to show up in the map's "share this place?" I don't see the connection between the two. Also, do I need a broadcast receiver or some such to receive the call back when the user selects my app?

stanlick 2010-09-21 23:33:39

The way I've shown you above tells Android that your app can receive a send intent of type "text/plain". Your app does not have to be running for it to be in the list because when you select it, Maps with actually launch the activity your intent filter is defined on. Then, you simply pull the text out of the context that's passed to the activity.

HenryAdamsJr 2010-09-27 18:53:34

Is there any documentation concerning what I might expect to get back in the Bundle extras? I have experimented with a few places and what I get back appears to be nearly random! bundle.get("android.intent.extra.TEXT") returns a String where the variable number of lines are separated by a /n char. Also, some of the lines start off with a number (1,2,3) and others do not. I thought the 1 might signify phone number, however, some phone numbers returned were not preceded by the 1! Fishing random data out of a Bundle is crazy!

stanlick 2010-09-28 23:08:03

I didn't find any documentation, and I doubt there is any. I just played around with it until I got what I needed. I just wanted to be able to pull out the GPS coordinates. Also, could you please accept my answer. =)

HenryAdamsJr 2010-09-29 04:24:57

Answer 2

A:

THX! I searched too long to get that answer.

Can you tell me how i can figure out what intent filters I need for other applications in order to list my app in menus like the "share place" menu?

how did you find out - brute force?

serprime 2010-10-09 15:11:03

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How to add your application to the "share this place" list in Google maps

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