MyTracks

A respawn of Google MyTracks - Original project from Clément Poulain

MyTracks was the best GPS tracking application. Lightweight, simple to use, well integrated with Google Drive, no extra crap. Until ~~the fire nation attacked~~ Google decided to kill it hoping you would switch to that pile of manure that is Google fit.

As valid alternatives I could only find ViewRanger or Open GPS Tracker but they are just not as good in my opinion.

MyTracks was open-sourced by Google on May 28, 2010. It is licensed under the terms of Apache License 2.0.

On 2014, Google announced updates will no longer be published as open-source, and source will be removed from Google Code on January 01, 2015.

On January 29, 2016, Google announced MyTracks will no longer be available after April 30, 2016. The application has been removed from Google Play.

The last open source version available is 2.0.6, released in February 2014. This fork is based on this version.

Releases since 2.0.5 :

Version	Release date	Min SDK	Changelog
2.0.11	January 28, 2016	14
2.0.10	April 29, 2015	14	A new map layer, Earth, for viewing tracks in 3D
2.0.9	December 11, 2014	9	Sync to Google Fit
2.0.8	October 16, 2014	9	Support Android Wear. Remove sharing with other apps on the phone
2.0.7	June 18, 2014	9	Export to Google Maps Engine. Remove export to Google Fusion Tables and Google Maps
2.0.6	Jan 30, 2014	9	Insert photo markers. Calculate calories burned Play multiple tracks in Google Earth

More information about Google MyTracks:

This version of the project adds explanatory steps to setup the development environment and get a successful build for Android versions up to 9. I do not have newer versions available so I cannot test there, and there is just no hope my computer can in this millenium run a full simulation of the app for debugging.

The following steps are the bare minimum set of requirements you need to follow in order to generate a working APK that lets you use ALL the functionality from the app EXCEPT for the Google Drive sync.

So, what is it all about?

The way Google killed the app, was to revoke the API keys it used. Meaning that by swapping those keys out with ones you own, everything works as expected.

Almost.

Something to be EXTREMELY aware of, is that by using YOUR API keys, YOU are BILLABLE if you exceed the free tier!

Billing

Google offers a free tier, which varies per API. Currently for the Maps usage the application would do, it is free for enough requests to last YOU more than a month, which is a full billing cycle.

How to build

Getting the Android SDK

To get the Android SDK you have two options:

download Android Studio, which is some IntelliJ version that includes everything you need already
download the SDK only, which means you use the IDE you like

Downloading the SDK only and setting up your IDE

Of course, it is not as easy as clicking on a link and extracting a zip, but still easy enough (following commands are for Linux version, exact counterparts will work for other OSs):

from the download page scroll to the Command line tools only section and download the appropriate version for you OS
extract the downloaded file where you like, then go into sdk-tools-linux-VERSION/tools/bin/ folder
the source project uses:
```
compileSdkVersion 17
buildToolsVersion "23.0.2"
```
so unless you desire to update the whole project, download those versions.

Be aware, that by switching to a newer version you will also face Apache HttpClient issues: 1, 2
unnecessary depending on your configuration create an empty repositories.cfg file under /home/USER/.android folder

download the necessary components with sdkmanager:

./sdkmanager --update
./sdkmanager --install "build-tools;23.0.2" "platforms;android-17"

link the Android SDK in your IDE for the project to the downloaded one, pointing to wherever you placed sdk-tools-linux-VERSION
unnecessary depending on your configuration add a local.properties file in the root folder of the project with this content: sdk.dir=/home/USER/sdk-tools-linux-VERSION

Getting the Google API keys

Two Google API keys are needed to build this project:

Those keys can be obtained using the Google API console.

As keys are not meant to be shared, they are located in their own value file: /myTracks/src/main/res/values/apikeys.xml, which is git-ignored. This means you have to create it in your local project to be able to build. Here is how it should look:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
  <string name="backup_api_key">xxxxxx</string>
  <string name="maps_api_key">yyyyyy</string>
</resources>

Once you have added this file, the project should be able to find and use your keys.

Note: you can use any other file if you prefer than apikeys.xml, but in that case be careful to not commit it.

!!!! WARNING !!!!

Due to changes in the Google Drive API, it does not matter if you have a valid API key for Google Drive since the application code needs to be changed anyway. Currently it is not done, I will investigate which options are there.

Google provides a sample app to help with the migration, ideally that is all that is needed.

Therefore, put anything as backup_api_key value, since you won't be able to sync with Google Drive anyway. Yet.

Compiling and generating the APK

Now that everything is set, you can generate the APK with (from the project root folder):

./gradlew build
./gradlew assemble

If you have a very powerful computer like me, you will get many warnings that your memory is too low and bla bla, just sit through it and place a steak on your machine, it should be ready by the time the build ends.

The build will generate multiple APK files under folder mytracks/myTracks/build/outputs/apk, the one you CAN install is called myTracks-debug.apk.

When trying to install it, your device will first prompt you to allow installation from untrusted sources - say yes, you can revert it back later - AND warn you that Google Play Protect couldn't verify the package - choose to continue.

That's it, you finally have your awesome app back :)