Develop Reference

PlacePicker Without Opening Widget Screen

I have implemented Google Maps in my App and doing reverse geocoding when clicking on map.Im using This API. but it gives me more than one result on Single tap. I know why Google behave like this.
Then I look into PlacePicker widget for Android, but Im unable to use that widget without opening another Map screen to pick place.
What I want is that I want to use my Google Map screen to get tapped place instead of opening PlacePicker screen. I just want PlacePicker work with my implemented Map i.e want PlacePicker to respond map click and give place without opening widget if this is not possible then inform me about other solution to get exactly one and correct place on Map tap? Thank you in advance
Updated
Why Im getting closed vote for question? it is not too broad? Simply,I want to know whether is it possible to use Google Map (MapView|SuportFragment) as PlacePicker's main screen. Have look code below
int PLACE_PICKER_REQUEST = 1;
PlacePicker.IntentBuilder builder = new PlacePicker.IntentBuilder();
// I don't want this line, Don't want PlacePicker to open another Map Screen to allow user to pick place.
startActivityForResult(builder.build(this), PLACE_PICKER_REQUEST);
now look at below code
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
if (requestCode == PLACE_PICKER_REQUEST) {
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
Place place = PlacePicker.getPlace(data, this);
String toastMsg = String.format("Place: %s", place.getName());
Toast.makeText(this, toastMsg, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}
}
above code is executed when user pick a place from PlacePicker screen and that screen returns a Intent with picked place. Is there any way to make that type of 'Intent' on Google Map tap with lat,lng? so that I could get Place detail. I don't want to user reverse geocoding as it gives me many results.

I Donot know anything about the google geo api or PlacePicker api.
The google independent android standard way would be to use "ACTION_PICK" with a geo uri.
For more infos see https://github.com/k3b/k3b-geoHelper/wiki/Android-Geo-howto.
This only works if you have installed a geo-pick-aware app that supports geo-pick.
Note: you do not have to use the lib. All you need to do is to decode the geo-uri returned by activity result

I have found solution to my problem, To get rid of reverse geocoding to many results and to get clicked place I use following code
googleMap.setOnPoiClickListener(new GoogleMap.OnPoiClickListener() {
#Override
public void onPoiClick(PointOfInterest pointOfInterest) {
String SS="";
isPOI=true;
poiPlaceID=pointOfInterest.placeId;
// Then using Google PlaceDetail API with placeId, It gives me exact Location click
}
});

Offline SpeechRecognizer on Android is not working

I am working with SpeechRecognizer. The problem was if there is no active internet connection SpeechRecognizer will throw error SpeechRecognizer.ERROR_NETWORK or SpeechRecognizer.ERROR_SERVER.
This is my RecognizerIntent
final Intent recognizerIntent;
recognizerIntent = new Intent(RecognizerIntent.ACTION_RECOGNIZE_SPEECH);
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE, "en");
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_CALLING_PACKAGE, this.getPackageName());
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_LANGUAGE_MODEL, RecognizerIntent.LANGUAGE_MODEL_FREE_FORM);
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_MAX_RESULTS, 5);
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_PARTIAL_RESULTS, true);
recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_PREFER_OFFLINE, true);
And I put recognizerIntent.putExtra(RecognizerIntent.EXTRA_PREFER_OFFLINE, true);
But no luck. again it will throw the same error.
And I got these 2 errors frequently.
SpeechRecognizer.ERROR_RECOGNIZER_BUSY
SpeechRecognizer.ERROR_NO_MATCH
Please help me.

First of all, you need to make sure if you have offline package of language you put to EXTRA_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE installed on the device.
To enable Offline Speech input in supported devices, follow below steps:
Go to Settings
Click on “Language and input”
On-screen keyboard
Select Google voice typing
Select Offline speech recognition
Install desired language
If it still does not work offline, try to change your EXTRA_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE value to something more specific, "en-US" for example (That did the trick for me)
And also, if you want to tell SpeechRecognizer wich language it should recognize, I guess you should use EXTRA_LANGUAGE parameter instead of EXTRA_LANGUAGE_PREFERENCE
Hope it will help

Check if Intent calling specific Component is callable?

I have an intent designed to open the Data Usage Summary view of the system settings app (undocumented; from this Stack Overflow answer):
Intent openIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN);
openIntent.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.android.settings", "com.android.settings.Settings$DataUsageSummaryActivity"));
openIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
startActivity(openIntent);
Is it possible to check whether this component exists and whether the intent will execute successfully?
A similar question gave answers that do not work for this intent in the Android (5.0) Emulator (causing the Settings app to crash several times over – see stacktrace). The below code answers return true (i.e. success), even though my above code will crash the Settings app. My activity intent has so far only crashed on the Emulator presumable due to there being no data plan set(?)
private boolean isCallable(Intent intent) {
List<ResolveInfo> list = getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(intent,
PackageManager.MATCH_DEFAULT_ONLY);
return list.size() > 0;
}
From this answer..
and
boolean activityExists = intent.resolveActivityInfo(getPackageManager(), 0) != null;
From this one..
Thanks.

The reason why the code snippets you tried are saying that the component is available is because the component is available. The component happens to crash when you try starting it. Whether this is due to an emulator bug, an Android bug, or the fact that you happen to be starting an activity that isn't documented to be started by third-party apps, I can't say.
Is it possible to check whether this component exists
Use the code snippets from your question. In this case, the component exists.
Is it possible to check whether... the intent will execute successfully?
Not in general. Third-party applications are written by third parties. Not only might they have bugs/limitations, but you have no means of determining whether they do from your app.

Android: custom Facebook integration

I need some advice for this matter...
I used the facebook android sdk to create an integration with facebook from my application...I followed this tutorial:
http://www.integratingstuff.com/2010/10/14/integrating-facebook-into-an-android-application/
I would need to implement authentication in one activity and the function postToWall in another.... after authentication i want to send post simply by pressing a button but in other activity, different from that where i do authentication.
is it possible? or with the SDK I'm forced to do everything together in the same activity?
thanks in advance

Yes it is possible. You will get a access token which you can send to the next activity. Use getAccessToken() and setAccessToken().
Here is an example that even saves the needed data: Contact-Picture-Sync

you need to install an extension, similar to the core Android SDK, but no, here is what you need to do:
1.) go to github.com/facebook/facebook-android-sdk
2.) download the facebook directory ONLY! The other directories are only examples.
3.) Put the files from the src (you can copy the drawables too, if you want to) in the package, you are currently working with
4.) You are good to go, you can use the facebook "SDK"
see also this example https://github.com/facebook/facebook-android-sdk/tree/master/examples/Hackbook download it , it is working example provided by facebook

just to provide an alternative answer, there's other ways of implementing sharing on Android.
It allows for more sharing options (like Twitter, QR-Barcodes, blogging and whatnot) without having to deal with the facebook android sdk.
What you would use is a "share" intent, like so:
String title = "My thing"; // used if you share through email or channels that require a headline for the content, always include this or some apps might not parse the content right
String wallPost = "Hey - check out this stuff: http://link.com "; // the content of your wallpost
String shareVia = "Share this stuff via"; // the headline for your chooser, where the phones avaliable sharing mechanisms are offered.
Intent shareIntent = new Intent(android.content.Intent.ACTION_SEND);
shareIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
shareIntent.setType("text/plain");
shareIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_SUBJECT, title);
shareIntent.putExtra(android.content.Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, wallPost);
startActivity(Intent.createChooser(shareIntent, shareVia));
This is by far the preferred solution on Android if you're looking for simple sharing, as it makes your app future-compatible with new services. And more lean and flexible for the user too, as there's little to no friction from hitting the share button to posting content.
It can also be seen in this blog post: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2012/02/share-with-intents.html
I hope you can use this for your project.

How to create barcode scanner (Android)?

Can someone tell me if creating barcode scanner app (for Android) is difficult? Is OpenCV library good start? Where can I find algorithm which clearly explains how to read barcodes? I will appreciate all good materials about this topic!
Thanks in advance!

The ZXing project provides a standalone barcode reader application which — via Android's intent mechanism — can be called by other applications who wish to integrate barcode scanning.
The easiest way to do this is to call the ZXing SCAN Intent from your application, like this:
public Button.OnClickListener mScan = new Button.OnClickListener() {
public void onClick(View v) {
Intent intent = new Intent("com.google.zxing.client.android.SCAN");
intent.putExtra("SCAN_MODE", "QR_CODE_MODE");
startActivityForResult(intent, 0);
}
};
public void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent intent) {
if (requestCode == 0) {
if (resultCode == RESULT_OK) {
String contents = intent.getStringExtra("SCAN_RESULT");
String format = intent.getStringExtra("SCAN_RESULT_FORMAT");
// Handle successful scan
} else if (resultCode == RESULT_CANCELED) {
// Handle cancel
}
}
}
Pressing the button linked to mScan would launch directly into the ZXing barcode scanner screen (or crash if ZXing isn't installed). Once a barcode has been recognised, you'll receive the result in your Activity, here in the contents variable.
To avoid the crashing and simplify things for you, ZXing have provided a utility class which you could integrate into your application to make the installation of ZXing smoother, by redirecting the user to the Android Market if they don't have it installed already.
Finally, if you want to integrate barcode scanning directly into your application without relying on having the separate ZXing application installed, well then it's an open source project and you can do so! :)

You can use the existing Zebra Crossing barcode scanner for Android, available at: http://code.google.com/p/zxing/. Typically the idea is that you would invoke it via intents, like in the example here: http://code.google.com/p/zxing/wiki/ScanningViaIntent.

Zebra Crossing is the best documented java 1D or 2D barcode decoder or encoder around. Lots of people use it, and it's become the de facto standard for android. There's a healthy buzz about it on here too.
RedLaser has an api, but you'll have to pay if you use it in production. When I tried it out, I didn't find it to be a spectacular improvement over Zebra Crossing. Certainly not for the price.
jjil does barcodes but there are only 3 committers on the project, and I've never used it myself so I don't know what to tell you about it. Its source is certainly readable.
Once you start reading, you'll find readers are tricky things to implement due to blurry images, noise, distortion, weird angles, and so forth. So if you want something reliable, you probably want to go with a community-maintained library.

You can use zbar library. Download it from:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/zbar/files/AndroidSDK/
I think this is more fast and accurate than zxing.