Hello developers, and welcome back.
In this video I'm gonna introduce marker clustering.
Imagine you have a lot of markers you need to display on your map, but the user will be confused when
seeing the like this map.
Okay, so there is a big problem.
We have markers to display, but the map is not pretty and not clear to navigate to see the countries,
to see the regions, to see areas and so on.
So there is a big problem here.
You need to display markers.
But there are a lot of markers.
And there is a sophisticated map and a complex map that the user will not like and adapt to it.
The solution marker clustering is the solution marker clustering is a technique used to manage large
number of markers on a map by grouping nearby markers together when viewed at high zoom levels, then
expanding them into individual markers as you zoom in.
So this is the principle of marker clustering.
In Google Maps, we can use specific library for marker clustering to make our maps looks pretty and
well organized.
Let's go to github.com Google Maps Android, or simply search for the official Google Maps repository.
Scroll down as we did before.
And here we have two libraries the util and widgets.
We worked with scale bars and we introduced this library.
Now let's copy this library.
Compare maps, compose utils and the version 6.6.0.
This is an optionally if you can include compose util libraries for clustering, streetview, metadata
check and etc..
Okay, so copy this library, go to Android Studio and inside build.gradle file.
Just paste this library and I'll name it as Clustering Library and paste it here.
Correct the implementation and click sync.
Now rendering hundreds or thousands of markers simultaneously can cause significant lag.
Clustering reduces the number of onscreen elements at higher zoom levels and improved user experience.
Here we can prevent the marker overlap and visual clutter makes it easier to understand density patterns
at different zoom levels.
Also, it provides a cleaner interface while still allowing access to all data.
And in terms of data visualization, marker clustering is better clearly shows concentrations of points
in certain areas.
Allows users to quickly identify hotspots or areas of interest.
The progressive disclosure shows summary information first, for example, the cluster counts.
Let's take let's take Florida 164.
So this shows summary information.
First the cluster counts and reveals detailed information individual markers only when needed.
So when the user when the user is zooming in the cluster will uh, will disappear and show the real
markers.
You can set appropriate zoom levels for, uh, when clustering should occur.
You can consider adding smooth transitions.
Transitions when clusters expand or collapse, and design clusters to match your apps apps theme and
provide clear information.
Don't worry, we're going to create custom clustering.
So please pay attention to me and follow me step by step.
Marker clustering is particularly valuable in apps that display multiple business locations, user generated
content points, real estate listing, or any other scenario with dense geographical data points.
Back to Android Studio.
Our project has the clustering library, so we're ready to start building our application.