Overview

Welcome to the Developer Guide for the HERE SDK for Android, version 4.15.3.0 (Lite Edition). Here you can find all necessary information to start building immersive location-aware apps today!

Why use the HERE SDK for Android?

The new HERE SDK for Android enables you to build powerful map applications. Bundled along with it are many HERE assets, available on Android for customers to integrate with their own apps. It consumes data from the HERE platform incorporating microservices and highly modularized components. The HERE SDK for Android belongs to the HERE SDK product family, which also includes the HERE SDK for iOS and the HERE SDK for Flutter which allows cross platform development for iOS and Android from a single codebase.

• Backed by more than 30 years of expertise in mapping technology, the new lightweight HERE SDK for Android provides you with instant access to the freshest map data of the highest quality, consistency and accuracy.
• Build captivating native applications and benefit from one of the world’s most accurate and interactive map data that is captured via a comprehensive and precise industrial process with the HERE True vehicles .
• Explore maps that are fast and smooth to interact with, pan/zoom across map views of varying resolutions, and enable the display of various elements such as routes and POIs on highly customizable map views.
• Benefit from the same technology stack that empowers the HERE WeGo Android application.

What is the best edition for me?

We have made the HERE SDK for iOS and Android available in three different editions:

1. Lite Edition: A light-weighted edition targeting embedded or custom hardware with tight hardware restrictions.
2. Explore Edition: A subset of the Navigate Edition.
3. Navigate Edition: The most feature rich edition that includes premium features such as turn-by-turn navigation and other premium features.

A few of the premium features that are available exclusively as part of the Navigate Edition:

• Turn-by-turn-navigation.
• Offline map data as downloadable countries or regions, offline search and offline routing.
• Advanced HERE positioning.
• Private venues.

For a comparison of all available features for each edition, please check the feature matrix available on here-tech.skawa.fun.

While each edition provides a tailored map experience, another major difference between these editions is the integration of a different map renderer.

• Lite Renderer (available only for the Lite Edition): This light-weighted map renderer is less resource-hungry and provides support for a vast amount of mobile devices while still being able to show beautifully looking and highly customizable maps. Choose the Lite Edition when you want to run your application on embedded or custom hardware with tight hardware restrictions.
• HERE Rendering Engine (available only for the Explore Edition and the Navigate Edition): The HERE Rendering Engine offers visually appealing true 3D maps that provide a smooth map experience and highly performant map rendering tailored for high-end devices. Benefit from premium features such as multiple map view instances, an integrated tool chain for map customization, full 3D camera control and seamless map scheme switches. Choose the Explore Edition or the Navigate Edition when you want to benefit from the best looking maps and support for older devices is less critical for you.

Internally, each edition of the HERE SDK 4.x shares a set of common modules. For example, the SearchEngine is part of a module that is used by all editions. Therefore, such functionality and the related APIs are the same for all editions. Other modules are exclusive for some editions. All features of the Explore Edition are also available for the Navigate Edition because the Navigate Edition includes all modules that are also integrated into the Explore Edition.

If you are still unsure what edition you should choose, try to answer the following questions:

• Do you want to offer the best and most advanced map experience of all HERE SDK editions, but you do not need any of the additional premium features? Then you might want to choose the Explore Edition.
• Does your app rely on any of the available premium features? Choose the Navigate Edition.

A more detailed overview of the available features of this edition can be found in the feature list.

In addition, the 4.x version of the HERE SDK is available for Flutter to build apps for iOS and Android from a single codebase written in Dart. You can learn more about all available HERE SDKs on here-tech.skawa.fun.