Flickering on marker setIcon with latest renderer [369213504]

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Feature Request

Status Update

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Description

ma...@wikiloc.com

created issue #1

Sep 24, 2024 10:42AM

I'm seeing a problem with the markers in the latest renderer. In our project we do animations in markers icons, basically just call setIcon with different drawables multiple times a second. This works perfectly fine in the Legacy renderer, but in the new one, there's a very visible flicker, and (and maybe this is the cause of the flicker) the icon moves very quickly from time to time, and then it goes back to the correct location.

I didn't see any other issue here in the tracker, but in the React Native Maps github I've seen this: https://github.com/react-native-maps/react-native-maps/issues/3098#issuecomment-2066440465 Which I think it's this exact issue, internally. Once they upgrade to using the latest renderer there's flickering issues on markers.

I added a repo to showcase this. The relevant activity is the Kotlin MapMarkersActivity https://github.com/marcportabellanavarro/android-samples-bug-showcase In this case it doesn't seem to move, just flicker.

Also add the following details:

Maps SDK client library version (used to build your app): 19.0.0
Maps renderer (Latest or Legacy): Latest
Devices you have verified this issue on: Emulator and a Pixel 8
- Google Play Services version on the device:
- Android version: 14
- Manufacturer and model:
Was this working correctly on a previous version? If yes, which version (client library, Android, Google Play Services versions)? Yes, on LEGACY

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Comments

ca...@google.com <ca...@google.com> #2Sep 25, 2024 02:08AM

Assigned to ra...@google.com.

i am using these dependencies for the map

// Maps SDK for Android KTX Library implementation 'com.google.maps.android:maps-ktx:3.0.0'

// Maps SDK for Android Utility Library KTX Library
implementation 'com.google.maps.android:maps-utils-ktx:3.0.0'

implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:18.5.0' implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-basement:18.5.0' implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:19.0.0'

and also getting some map sdk error as well dab File created: google_maps_sdk_crash dab File created: _google_maps_sdk_crash_count_1 dab Couldn't create marker: google_maps_sdk_crash dab File created: _google_maps_sdk_crash_count_2 dab Marker deleted: _google_maps_sdk_crash_count_1

sh...@google.com <sh...@google.com> #3Sep 26, 2024 07:14AM

Thank you for posting.

We are currently looking into this and will get back to you as soon as we have an update.

ma...@wikiloc.com <ma...@wikiloc.com> #4Sep 26, 2024 09:46AM

Thank you for waiting.

We'll need some more details to troubleshoot this issue - please provide the following, in particular steps to reproduce the issue:

Put together a simplified reproduction case (http://sscce.org/) and add it to a git hosting provider (e.g. github, bitbucket, etc)? The easiest way to do this might be to fork the Google Maps Android API Samples Repository and modify one of the existing demo activities: https://github.com/googlemaps/android-samples
List steps to reproduce the problem
- Maps SDK client library version (used to build your app):
- Maps renderer (Latest or Legacy):
- Devices you have verified this issue on:
- Google Play Services version on the device:
- Android version:
- Manufacturer and model:
- Was this working correctly on a previous version of Google Play Services? (If yes, which client library and SDK version?)
Attach the following:
- screenshots
- sample code
- an APK if possible.
Complete stacktrace when the issue occurs

sh...@google.com <sh...@google.com> #5Sep 26, 2024 12:52PM

Thank you for the additional details, would you be able to further explain the goal of adding the animation to the marker? (e.g. to show a loading state to users, progress, for aesthetic purposes, etc.)

ma...@wikiloc.com <ma...@wikiloc.com> #6Sep 26, 2024 01:19PM

We're showing a loading state inside a custom icon marker. We have code that generates the appropriate bitmaps, and with a callback, we use setIcon to change to this new "frame" of the animation.
It's only one at a time maximum, so it's nothing too heavy.

jh...@google.com <jh...@google.com> #7Oct 11, 2024 02:22PM

Have you tried using the Choreographer class (for instance its postFrameCallback(FrameCallback callback) method) to ensure that setIcon() is called right after each frame is displayed, before the next one is prepared?

as...@google.com <as...@google.com> #8Dec 19, 2024 06:26AM

Thank you for the report. We understand that in the Legacy renderer you could call setIcon repeatedly without flickering, for example to do some animation. However, the method is not officially designed to support that use case, and hence in the Latest renderer implementation we did not monitor this behavior.

Based on that, we are treating this issue as a feature request for the Latest renderer. To register your interest in this issue, please star the issue (click the star icon next to the issue title). This will subscribe you to receive updates on the issue and also provide us with feedback on the interest on the issue, which increases the issue's priority with the product engineering team.