Google is upgrading the Places API for Android and iOS, and at the same time is deprecating the free Places SDK in Google Play Services, with a full shutdown date of the end of July 2019.

The reason Google has given for the move is that when the Maps Platform launched in July 2018, Google held back the Places software development kit (SDK) for Android and iOS, leaving the mobile Places SDK tied to the previous plan’s limit of 150,000 daily requests. However, the new Places SDK has been released for both Android and iOS, and are now officially part of the Maps Platform, and the old SDKs are deprecated. 

If you're using the old Places SDK, you have six months to update your apps with the new Places SDKs. Google says that because some code changes will be necessary with this update, it is giving developers until July 29, 2019 to deploy their updated apps, at which time the old SDKs will stop functioning.

The pricing model moves to the standard pricing model for Google Maps Platforms. In this the cost is calculated as SKU Usage x Price per each use. For each billing account, for qualifying Google Maps Platform SKUs, a $200 USD Google Maps Platform credit is available each month, and automatically applied to the qualifying SKUs. In addition, in the basic tier that gives up to 100,000 requests per month, some data such as mobile native maps is free. 

The new SDK lets you can fetch a place by ID, fetch a place photo, find a place from the user's location, and find autocomplete predictions. These are clutch behaviors in mapping, navigation, and guidance apps. The new SDK also allows unlimited requests per day, and can show opening hours under the Places Details.

More Information

Explanation Of Maps SDK Billing

Places SDK Intro

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