How to obtain a Google Maps API key?

TLDR; To enable Google Maps support in your AppGini apps, you need to enable Maps Embed API and Maps Static API in your Google Cloud console, create an API key and copy it to AppGini.

Obtaining a Google API key can be quite challenging due to the complex, ever-changing interface of Google Cloud console. So, we are listing the specific steps in detail to get you started quickly.

Following are the steps to obtain a Google Maps API key (last updated October 22, 2019).

  1. Go to Google Cloud Console dashboard and sign in with your Google credentials if needed.
  2. Select the default project or a different one from the drop-down on the top left (or create a new one).
  3. Open APIs & Services menu on the left and click on Library.
  4. In the next page, type maps embed in the search box. This should display some results like so:
  5. Click on Maps Embed API and then click Enable button:
  6. If all goes fine, you should see the Maps Embed API metrics page:
  7. Click the "hamburger" button at the top left of the page to open the left navigation menu. From there, open APIs & Services and click Library:
  8. This should re-open the API search page. Type maps static in the search box, then click Maps Static API and enable it.
  9. Next, open the navigation menu > APIs & Services > Credentials:
  10. In the credentials page, click the button Create credentials and select API key from the menu:
  11. You should see a dialog containing your API key, similar to this:
  12. Google allows a free usage quota that is generous enough for most small apps. We highly recommend that you choose Restrict key and follow the instructions to limit key usage to your server IP/domain to avoid someone stealing and abusing your key, causing unnecessary costs.

Your API key is now ready to copy and use in your AppGini apps.