76.14 Controlling the Map Camera

Because Android device screens are flat and the world is a sphere, the Google Maps Android API uses the Mercator projection to represent the earth on a flat surface. The default view of the map is presented to the user as though through a camera suspended above the map and pointing directly down at the map. The Google Maps Android API allows the target, zoom, bearing and tilt of this camera to be changed in real-time from within the application:

•Target – The location of the center of the map within the device display specified in terms of longitude and latitude.

•Zoom – The zoom level of the camera specified in levels. Increasing the zoom level by 1.0 doubles the width of the amount of the map displayed.

•Tilt – The viewing angle of the camera specified as a position on an arc spanning directly over the center of the viewable map area measured in degrees from the top of the arc (this being the nadir...