Requirements

This component is only for applications that will target Android 4.1.x (API level 16) or higher.

It is not necessary to manually manage the version of the Google Play Services client libary via the Android SDK manager. The Google Play Services component embeds metadata to identify what version of the Google Services client library it is bound to. When you add the component to your application, the correct version of the Google Play Services client library is downloaded and the component automatically binds to that, instead of the version that is installed by the Android SDK Manager.

To test your app when using the Google Play services SDK, you must use either:

A compatible Android device that runs Android 4.1 or higher and includes Google Play Store.
The Android emulator with an AVD that runs the Google APIs platform based on API level 19.

Ideally, you should develop and test your app on a variety of devices, including both phones and tablets.

Google Maps v2 API Key

You must obtain a new API Key for Google Maps v2, API keys from Google Maps v1 will not work.

The location of the debug.keystore file that Xamarin.Android uses depends on your platform:

Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Xamarin\Mono for Android\debug.keystore
OSX : /Users/[USERNAME]/.local/share/Xamarin/Mono for Android/debug.keystore

To obtain the SHA1 fingerprint of the debug keystore, you can use the keytool command that is a part of the JDK. This is an example of using keytool at the command-line:

$ keytool -V -list -keystore debug.keystore -alias androiddebugkey -storepass android -keypass android

Showing a Map

MainActivity.cs

using Android.Gms.Maps;
// ...

protected override void OnCreate (Bundle bundle)
{
	base.OnCreate (bundle);

	// add map fragment to frame layout
	var mapFragment = new MapFragment ();
	FragmentTransaction fragmentTx = this.FragmentManager.BeginTransaction();
	fragmentTx.Add (Resource.Id.linearLayout1, mapFragment);
	fragmentTx.Commit ();

	// Set our view from the "main" layout resource
	SetContentView (Resource.Layout.Main);
}

Adding the API Key to your application

It goes in your application's manifest, contained in the file AndroidManifest.xml. From there, the Maps API reads the key value and passes it to the Google Maps server, which then confirms that you have access to Google Maps data.

In AndroidManifest.xml, add the following element as a child of the <application> element, by inserting it just before the closing tag </application>

<application android:label="@string/app_name">
		<!-- Put your Google Maps V2 API Key here. This key will not work for you.-->
		<!-- See https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/android/start#obtaining_an_api_key -->
		<meta-data android:name="com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY" android:value="YourKey" />
<meta-data android:name="com.google.android.gms.version" android:value="@integer/google_play_services_version" />
</application>

Add the following elements to your manifest. Replace com.example.mapdemo with the package name of your application.

<permission
        android:name="com.example.mapdemo.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"
        android:protectionLevel="signature"/>
<uses-permission android:name="com.example.mapdemo.permission.MAPS_RECEIVE"/>

Specifying additional permissions

Besides permissions required by other parts of your application, you must add the following permissions to AndroidManifest.xml in order to use the Google Maps Android API:

<!-- We need to be able to download map tiles and access Google Play Services-->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<!-- Allow the application to access Google web-based services. -->
<uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.providers.gsf.permission.READ_GSERVICES" />
<!-- Google Maps for Android v2 will cache map tiles on external storage -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<!-- Google Maps for Android v2 needs this permission so that it may check the connection state as it must download data -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<!-- These are optional, but recommended. They will allow Maps to use the My Location provider. -->
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION" />

Requiring OpenGL ES version 2

Because version 2 of the Google Maps Android API requires OpenGL ES version 2, you must add a <uses-feature> element as a child of the <manifest> element in AndroidManifest.xml

<!-- Google Maps for Android v2 requires OpenGL ES v2 -->
	<uses-feature android:glEsVersion="0x00020000" android:required="true" />

Troubleshooting

In order to fix java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space you will need to increase the JavaMaximunHeapSize, in order to do this you must edit the .csproj (Your Project File) in a XML/Text editor, and add

<PropertyGroup>
    <JavaMaximumHeapSize>1G</JavaMaximumHeapSize>
</PropertyGroup>

JavaMaximunHeapSize - This allows the overriding of the default java heapsize which is sometimes too low to compile some .jar files.

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