Skip to main content

Transparent background

Additional Developer Resources
MapView with transparent background.
Android Examples App Available

This example code is part of the Maps SDK for Android Examples App, a working Android project available on GitHub. Android developers are encouraged to run the examples app locally to interact with this example in an emulator and explore other features of the Maps SDK.

See our Run the Maps SDK for Android Examples App tutorial for step-by-step instructions.

TransparentBackgroundActivity.kt
github View on GitHub
package com.mapbox.maps.testapp.examples

import android.net.Uri
import android.os.Bundle
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import com.mapbox.maps.testapp.R
import com.mapbox.maps.testapp.databinding.ActivityTransparentBackgroundBinding

/**
 * Example of using custom video as a background for MapView.
 * This is possible when using `texture_view` rendering for MapView because it supports alpha channel translucency.
 */
class TransparentBackgroundActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

  private lateinit var binding: ActivityTransparentBackgroundBinding

  private fun initVideoView() {
    val path = "android.resource://" + packageName + "/" + R.raw.moving_background_water
    binding.videoView.apply {
      setVideoURI(Uri.parse(path))
      start()
      setOnCompletionListener { binding.videoView.start() }
    }
  }

  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    binding = ActivityTransparentBackgroundBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
    setContentView(binding.root)

    binding.mapView.mapboxMap.loadStyle(
      """
      {
        "version": 8,
        "name": "Land",
        "metadata": {
          "mapbox:autocomposite": true
        },
        "sources": {
          "composite": {
            "url": "mapbox://mapbox.mapbox-terrain-v2",
            "type": "vector"
          }
        },
        "glyphs": "mapbox://fonts/mapbox/{fontstack}/{range}.pbf",
        "layers": [
          {
            "layout": {
              "visibility": "visible"
            },
            "type": "fill",
            "source": "composite",
            "id": "admin",
            "paint": {
              "fill-color": "hsl(359, 100%, 50%)",
              "fill-opacity": 1
            },
            "source-layer": "landcover"
          },
          {
            "layout": {
              "visibility": "visible"
            },
            "type": "fill",
            "source": "composite",
            "id": "layer-0",
            "paint": {
              "fill-opacity": 1,
              "fill-color": "hsl(359, 100%, 50%)"
            },
            "source-layer": "Layer_0"
          }
        ]
      }
      """.trimIndent()
    ) { initVideoView() }
  }

  override fun onDestroy() {
    super.onDestroy()
    binding.videoView.stopPlayback()
  }
}
Additional Developer Resources
Was this example helpful?