> Decompiling Field Trip reveals some secrets about the new Maps API. The application tag in the app manifest references “com.google.android.maps.v2.API_KEY” ...

I can't believe this person didn't realize the key he published in his blog (the part I didn't copy) is a particular developer's unique API key for Google Maps access -- and now it's been made public.

Requiring a developer-specific API key to access Google maps is hardly a "secret". And now there's one more non-secret.

The key is linked to the signing key of the app. So even if they have the key they still need the signing key to use it.

My point is there's a reason for the key's presence in the app, and making it public undermines its purpose.

In the general case (not necessarily for Android), having a Google Maps API key is enough to gain access for anyone's online use of GM. The keys can be gotten easily enough, but each has a traffic cap and a few other constraints. Publishing a key undermines the system.

If the key is distributed in the app, it is already public and certainly cannot be secret.

The Field Trip app belongs to Google right? So that would be google's api key then?

Fancy. Looks like a response, sort of, to Apple Maps. I wonder if this api will debut in updated maps apps for both Android and iOS? One can only dream.