title: Android MapView getMap() returns null
body: <p><code>MapView</code>'s <code>getMap()</code> method can return null.  I know this is an intended behavior by Google.</p>
  
  <p>Can someone provide a <strong>definitive</strong> description as to when and under which circumstances the <code>getMap()</code> method returns null?</p>
  
  <p>I know that if Google Services are unavailable on the given device, <code>getMap()</code> will return null.  This eventuality is relatively well documented.  I'm more concerned with the vague other case where even when Google Services are installed on a device, <code>getMap()</code> can still return null.</p>
  
  <p>My assumption up to this point is that there is some initialization of the underlying maps system, during which time your code might execute and get a null map.</p>
  
  <p>Am I correct in my assumption?</p>
  
  <p>Is there any particular place in the Activity or Fragment lifecycle where we can definitively get a non-null <code>GoogleMap</code> (if we assume Google Services IS installed)?</p>
  
  <p>My goal in asking this question is to prevent a litany of <code>if(mapView.getMap() != null)</code> checks littered throughout my code.  In addition, this question seems to still come up on a regular basis here on StackOverflow and I'd like to see if we can flesh out the truth behind what exactly is going on with <code>MapView</code> and <code>getMap()</code></p>