AI & TechnologyGoogle Places API Is Legacy: Fixing LegacyApiNotActivatedMapError

If your app shows LegacyApiNotActivatedMapError, it is calling a Google Maps API that went Legacy on March 1, 2025, from a Cloud project where that API isn't available. The Places API, the Places SDKs, Directions and Distance Matrix are all Legacy now. Existing projects can keep using them for now, but new projects can't, and Google recommends keeping them off. The fix is to move the code to Places API (New) or the Routes API. That is a real code change, not a setting.

If you landed here from an old link to the Places SDK for Android docs, that page now returns 404. The dates and behavior below come from Google Maps Platform documentation, as listed in the sources. I checked each page on October 18, 2026.

Disclosure: App369 is my studio. I build and fix apps, including maps and location features, and the last section mentions what I sell. Google doesn't pay me for anything on this page.

What went Legacy, and what replaces it

Source: Google Maps Platform, Legacy products, last updated October 16, 2026.

What "Legacy" means

Google describes Legacy as an intermediate step between generally available and deprecated:

• Not available in new Cloud projects. This is what causes the error on a fresh project.
• Fully supported for existing projects. Existing projects can keep using it.
• Feature frozen. New features go only to the new services.
• No turn-down date yet. Google says it expects to turn Legacy services down in the coming years and will give at least 12 months of notice first.

What the old addresses do today

Checked on October 18, 2026:

• developers.google.com/places/android-sdk/intro, the old Places SDK for Android start page, returned 404.
• Older Places SDK and Places API migration links now redirect into Google's legacy documentation section.

Fixing LegacyApiNotActivatedMapError

1. Find which Legacy API is called. Search the app and backend for maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/place/, maps/api/directions/, maps/api/distancematrix/, the JavaScript PlacesService, DirectionsService and DistanceMatrixService, and Places.initialize( on Android. In a Flutter app, check which endpoints your places or directions package calls.
2. Enable the new API and add it to your key. Google's Places migration guide says to enable Places API (New) in the Cloud project and add it to the API key your app uses. If you run both versions during the move, Google recommends a separate key for each.
3. Move Places calls to the new API.
   • Web service: Place Details (New), Nearby Search (New) and Text Search (New) require a field mask that lists the fields you want, return only JSON, and use a new response format.
   • Android: initialize with Places.initializeWithNewPlacesApiEnabled(), and add field masks to the same three request types.
4. Move Directions and Distance Matrix to the Routes API. Replace maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/directions/ with routes.googleapis.com/directions/v2:computeRoutes, and maps/api/distancematrix/ with routes.googleapis.com/distanceMatrix/v2:computeRouteMatrix. The parameters move from the URL into an HTTPS request body.
5. Request only the fields you show. My advice: keep each field mask to what the screen actually uses. A wildcard is quicker to write, but you lose control of what each call returns and costs.
6. Check the price before you switch. The new APIs use a new pricing model. Google's tip, for usage high enough to reach second-tier pricing: you're billed for a different SKU, so switch production close to the start of the month.
7. Keep the API key restricted. My advice: restrict each key to the APIs it calls and to your app or domain, especially a key that ships inside a mobile app.

If an AI assistant wrote the code

Google's Legacy page warns that many AI coding assistants generate code for the Legacy APIs by default, and it publishes migration prompts for them. Code like that can work on an older project that still has the Legacy API enabled, then fail on a new one. Point the assistant at Google's migration guides, ask it to use the new API with field masks, and test on a brand-new Cloud project with no Legacy APIs enabled.

Need a hand?

If your app was built with Lovable, Bolt, Cursor or another AI tool and maps, places or routes stopped working, the AI-Built App Rescue starts with a $450 Launch Check of the whole app in 3 business days. For one broken feature in an app you already maintain, the App Fix Ticket covers it in two fixed-price steps. A $450 Diagnosis gives you the root cause with evidence and a fixed repair quote within 3 business days, credited toward the fix. If you go ahead, the $1,200 Fix takes 5 business days. Or send me a short description.