How to get current location in google maps using "nativescript-google-maps-sdk"? - google-maps-android-api-2

Question

I am building an app on nativescript+Angular2. I have downloaded the "nativescript-google-maps-sdk" plugin from npm. If I enable setMyLocationEnabled(true), I get the "my-location" button on the upper right corner of the screen and clicking it takes me to my actual location.
What I would like to do is to get these coordinates programmaticaly, because I will need them for other operations (markers, proximity values etc.).
Ran through their code, but couldn't find how they are getting this current location. gMap.getMyLocation() is deprecated, so I can't use that, based on what's written here: https://developers.google.com/android/reference/com/google/android/gms/maps/GoogleMap
We should be using FusedLocationProviderApi. If this plugin isn't using it, then how does it acquire current location?
Can anyone shed some light?
mapReady(args) {
console.log("Map Ready");
var gMap = args.gMap;
gMap.setMyLocationEnabled(true);
// gMap.getMyLocation(); deprecated
// need to get current location coordinates, somehow...
}

Answer 1

The nativescript-google-maps-sdk plugin doesn't support getting your location from the device.
You need to get the location from nativescript-geolocation ( you are already doing that) and then pass that to the google-map.
If you check the google-maps plugin's AndroidManifest.xml, it doesn't have the permission to access the device's location.

Answer 2

So, as it turns out, you can get your location from your device in 2 ways:
with built in android LocationManager
with google play services location module, which uses FusedLocationProviderApi which is built on default android LocationManager
The difference, from what I've read, is that the googles' version is more advanced - it switches from different location modes (gps, wifi) automatically and saves up your battery.
So, in order to use the googles' way, we need to:
Import google play services location module (+ means newest version):
dependencies {
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-location:+'
}
Then initialise the play services API:
declare var com: any;
GoogleApiClient = com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient;
LocationServices = com.google.android.gms.location.LocationServices;
var dis = this; // writing in typescript, so this is reference to our current component where this code will lay
// Create an instance of GoogleAPIClient.
if (this.googleApiClient == null) {
this.googleApiClient = new dis.GoogleApiClient.Builder(application.android.context)
.addConnectionCallbacks(new dis.GoogleApiClient.ConnectionCallbacks({
onConnected: function() {
console.log("GoogleApiClient: CONNECTED");
}.bind(this),
onConnectionSuspended: function() {
console.log("GoogleApiClient: SUSPENDED");
}.bind(this)
}))
.addOnConnectionFailedListener(new dis.GoogleApiClient.OnConnectionFailedListener({
onConnectionFailed: function() {
console.log("GoogleApiClient: CONNECTION ERROR");
}.bind(this)
}))
.addApi(dis.LocationServices.API)
.build();
}
this.googleApiClient.connect();