A template app that uses the Google Places API to demonstrate the core functionality of apps that use your current location to provide a list of nearby points of interest, allow you to drill down into the details, and then checkin / rate/ review. It incorporates the tips, tricks, best practices, and cheats I know for creating high quality apps.

Particular attention has been paid to reducing the time between opening an app and seeing an up-to-date list of nearby venues and providing a reasonable level of offline support.

The code implements all of the location best-practices for reducing latency and battery consumption as detailed in my Google I/O 2011 session, Android Protips: Advanced Topics for Expert Android Developers.

You can learn more about the decisions involved in this deep dive into location-based services post on the Android Developer Blog.

Quick Start Guide (see the Readme.txt for more details)

• Make sure you've downloaded and installed the Android Compatibility Library.
• Obtain a Google Places API key and assign it to the MY_API_KEY static constant in PlacesConstants.java.
• Obtain a Backup Manager API key and assign it to the backup_manager_key value in res/values/strings.xml.

Implemented Requirements

• Display list of nearby locations.
• Allow drill-down to display place details for any selected place.
• Support some form of user feedback for a location (Checkins).
• Offline support for all features (place list, details, and checkins).
• Must support Android 1.6+.
• Must be optimized for tablets and use the best APIs available for any given platform version.

Protips Covered in this Project

• Using and supporting the latest APIs and hardware.
• Using Interfaces for backwards compatibility.
• Using Intents to receive location updates.
• Monitoring inactive Location Providers for a better option
• Monitoring the Location Providers in use in case they’re disabled
• Using the Passive Location Provider
• Using Intents to passively receive location updates when your app isn't active
• Monitoring device state to vary refresh rate
• Toggling your manifest Receivers at runtime
• Monitoring state change broadcasts
• Backing up Shared Preferences to the Cloud using the Backup Manager
• Making everything asynchronous. No exceptions.
• Using Intent Services
• Using the Loader and Cursor Loader
• Using Strict Mode

Using the code? Let me know!