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I know that ESRI has ArcGIS APIs for Android what other options are there for me as developer, if I'm about to develop GIS applications for an Android phone?

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5 Answers

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Debateable whether 'ArcGIS for Android' is a fully functional GIS (Geoprocessing, Database etc)

But gvSIG Mini for Android is comparable and open-source equivalent to ArcGIS for Android.

https://confluence.prodevelop.es/display/GVMN/Features

https://confluence.prodevelop.es/display/GVMN/Android+Download

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That's true it's the ArcGIS Server that does the GIS stuff, but I would say that it's ok if there is a server with database to persist the data, that's the way appication should be layered anyway. – MathiasWestin Nov 2 '10 at 6:32
what would you say is missing from the ArcGIS API that makes it debatable as to whether it is a 'fully functional' GIS? – zwaap Nov 2 '10 at 21:20
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Documentation (Poor)help.arcgis.com/en/arcgismobile/10.0/apis/android/help/#/… Spelling and admits that You use map control to display geographic information(map mainly). no attributes? – Mapperz♦ Nov 2 '10 at 21:57
Very interesting, Thanks @Mapperz – MathiasWestin Nov 3 '10 at 19:38
up vote 2 down vote

I know very little of Android as such but here is what I do know. Android is Flash enabled and there for if you are willing to play around with it any Flex development environment would allow you to build custom apps for an Android phone.

Similarly JavaScript is also available and html5. But beyong that I think there may be someone better equipt to put more of a technical touch on this.

Apparently Silverlight is in dev for android but I wouldn't hold my breathe for it now. Although this would open up WPF as an application interface.

Have Fun, CDB

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SSure one way would of course be to to use Web APIs. But to make an app in Android I thougth that the Android development were made in Java? – MathiasWestin Nov 2 '10 at 6:37
you are correct from what little I have gleaned but I was pointing out the connectivity options, as all of the API's are/will be supported as I understand it.Please correct me if I am wrong – CDBrown Nov 3 '10 at 22:28
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Perhaps this open source tool is also of interest:

"Geopaparazzi is a tool developed to do very fast qualitative engineering/geologic surveys. Even if the main aim is in the field of surveying, it contains tools that can be of great use also to OpenStreetMappers as well as tourists that want to keep a geo-diary.

Geopaparazzi is now available on the Android Market. Search for geopaparazzi on your phone. ... " http://code.google.com/p/geopaparazzi/

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Geopaparazzi costs ~$14USD and has zero reviews. Anyone used this app? – Chad Cooper Nov 2 '10 at 14:16
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What about something like ExtMap Touch? As of today it doesn't support Android, but according to the website - "...it will be working on every mobile device (like Android, BlackBerry, WebOS and Bada) in the future which have webkit-based browsers.". Quite frankly it looks good and if you need ArcGIS Server support it's one of very few choices beyond ESRI's ArcGIS on iOS.

http://www.extmap.com/index.php?pid=2

If you're using a Chrome or Safari as a desktop browser you can demo the application. See the link on ExtMap site.

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Nutiteq Android SDK has now version 2.0 with 3D features and much improved performance, probably worth to look into.

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