Urgent! PlaceResult.opening_hours.open_now and PlaceResult.utc_offset properties in the Places Library, Maps JavaScript API have been deprecated and need updating

Web Developers React Js and Meteor
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Hello Google Maps Platform Customer,

We are writing to remind you that on November 20, 2019, the PlaceResult.opening_hours.open_now and PlaceResult.utc_offset properties in the Places Library, Maps JavaScript API have been deprecated and replaced by new properties and methods. You are receiving this email because your projects may be reading these properties from PlaceResult objects returned in response to Place Details, Find Places, Nearby Search and Text Search requests.

You have until November 20, 2020, to perform the changes in your code as described below.

What do I need to know?

Currently, the Places Library, Maps JavaScript API exposes in its PlaceResult object the properties:

  • utc_offset, which is returned on Place Details requests and
  • opening_hours.open_now, which is returned on Place Details, Find Place, Nearby Search and Text Search requests.

On November 20, 2019, we deprecated these properties to bring consistency across Places API clients on different platforms (the Maps JavaScript API, the Places SDK for Android, the Places SDK for iOS).

These properties have been replaced as follows:

  • utc_offset, by utc_offset_minutes
  • opening_hours.open_now, by the isOpen() method in Place Details requests only.

Additionally, for Find Place, Nearby Search and Text Search requests, we provide alternative solutions for determining whether a place is open.

As a result, starting November 20, 2020 , the Places Library, Maps JavaScript API will stop accepting utc_offset and the nested field opening_hours.open_now in the fields parameter and stop returning them in response to such requests. Instead, you will receive the ‘Unsupported field name’ error when using these properties in the fields parameter and the value ‘undefined’ when reading these properties from the PlaceResult object in the response.

If you are not already doing so, using the fields parameter in Place Details requests will save you money in case you don’t need all the fields for returned places. If you do not specify at least one field with a request, or if you omit the fields parameter from a request, all possible fields will be returned, and you will be billed accordingly, for all data SKUs.

What do I need to do?

Before November 20, 2020, follow the Place Field Migration guide to make the necessary property and method substitutions and to see the alternative options for obtaining opening_hours data to prevent user experience degradation. We have also recently published a video explaining how to get current open status through Place Details using the isOpen method and utc_offset_minutes field.

We have identified that your project(s) listed below are using Place Details and/or Find Place and/or Nearby Search and/or Text Search requests from the Places Library, Maps JavaScript API. These requests are returning utc_offset and/or opening_hours.open_now properties in the PlaceResult object and you may be reading these properties.

As always, you can contact our Google Maps Platform Support Team with any questions.

Thank you for choosing Google Maps Platform.