title: How to use multiple MapActivities/MapViews per Android application/process
body: <p>I have written one <code>MapActivity</code> class that is able to display a set of places as well as single places. On startup, the application creates an instance of this <code>MapActivity</code> and displays multiple places. If the user clicks on a certain place, then a new <code>Activity</code> is launched that shows the details of the selected place. This activity has a menu item that allows the user to view the place on a map - this causes that a new instance of the <code>MapActivity</code> is created, except that now only this single place is displayed. </p>
  
  <p>The problem now is that if the user navigates back to the first <code>MapActivity</code> (the one that shows multiple places) the tiles won't be loaded anymore + sometimes OutOfMemoryErrors are encountered.</p>
  
  <p>According to the Android JavaDocs, it is only possible to have one <code>MapActivity</code> per process. However, I don't want to define my <code>MapActivity</code> as a singleInstance/singleTask, since the user should always be able to navigate back to the first MapActivity that shows multiple places. </p>
  
  <p>I have seen that the Google Places app (which has come with Google Map 4.4) for Android uses multiple <code>MapActivity</code> instances. How is this possible? And how can I achieve it in my application? </p>