The Places SDK lets you search for and retrieve information for a variety ofplace types using a text string or by proximity. Places SDK is the legacyversion of Places SDK (New).

Use this guide to understand the key differences between the Places SDK versionsand migrate to Places SDK (New).

SDK features available in each version

The following table shows which SDK and API versions are required for each SDKfeature:

Feature	Places API enabled on API key	Initialization method	Minimum SDK version
Autocomplete (New)	Places API (New)	initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled()	3.5.0
Place Details (New)	Places API (New)	initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled()	3.3.0
Nearby Search (New)	Places API (New)	initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled()	3.5.0
Place Photos (New)	Places API (New)	initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled()	3.4.0
Text Search (New)	Places API (New)	initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled()	3.3.0
Place Autocomplete	Places API	initialize() (Deprecated)
Current Place	Places API	initialize() (Deprecated)
Place Details	Places API	initialize() (Deprecated)
Place Photos	Places API	initialize() (Deprecated)

Deprecated: ThePlaces.initialize method is deprecated. UsePlaces.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled() instead. Note that in order to usePlaces.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled(), you need to enable the Places API (New) on your API key in the Google Cloud console.

Migrate to the new APIs

To migrate to the new APIs, see the following migration guides:

• Migrate to Place Details (New)
• Migrate to Place Photo (New)
• Migrate to Autocomplete (New)

Enhancements in Places SDK for Android (New)

This section covers key features added to Places SDK for Android (New).

Implemented on the Google Cloud standard platform

Places SDK for Android (New) is implemented on theserviceinfrastructure on Google Cloud. This implementation brings a more secure and trusted platform.This standard design brings a level of consistency across the SDKs that improvethe efficiency of development with Places SDK for Android(New).

Improved performance

Places SDK for Android (New) provides improved performance, making itworthwhile to replace apps that use the existing SDK.

New features

The Places SDK for Android (New) includes the latest versions of all of the SDKfeatures:

• Autocomplete (New)
• Place Details (New)
• Nearby Search (New)
• Place Photos (New)
• Text Search (New)

New Text Search service

Text Search (New) returns informationabout a set of places based on a string — for example "pizza in New York" or"shoe stores near Ottawa" or "123 Main Street". The service responds with a listof places matching the text string and any location bias that has been set.

New response data added to Placed Details (New) and Place Photos (New)

• Place Details(New) now includes the newReviewclass in the responsePlace object. ThePlace classcontains the newgetReviews() method to support this field. CallgetReviews() to return up to five reviews for a place.

• Place Photo(New) adds theAuthorAttributionsto thePhotoMetadata class.AuthorAttributions contains aList ofAuthorAttributionobjects.

New URI response added to Place Photos (New)

You can now usePlace Photo(New) to return a URI to an image bitmap. Previously, you could only return theimage bitmap itself.

Simplified pricing

Pricing is simplified with Places SDK for Android (New) so that you onlypay for the data you use. Simplified pricing is implemented using field lists,also calledfield masks.

With Place Details andText Search you use field lists to control the list offields to return in the response. You are then only billed for the datarequested. Using a field list is a good design practice to ensure that you don'trequest unnecessary data, which helps to avoid unnecessary processing time andbilling charges.

For detailed pricing information for both SDKs, seeUsage andBilling.

Expanded place types

The new SDK includes new place types, which are returned as part of thePlace Details and Text Searchresponse. You can also use these new types, and the existing types, in a searchwith Text Search. The new types are included inTableA.