Xamarin Android Google Places Api AutoComplete broken - xamarin

Question

I'm trying to get the basic autocomplete functionality from Google's Places Api working with Xamarin Android.
I'm using version 25.0.0.0 of Xamarin's Google Play Services - Location lib.
I've managed to get to the point of returning results of a query while following this example code
This is the Fragment I'm using to test the code
public class PlaceAutocomplete: BaseFragment, IGoogleApiClientOnConnectionFailedListener {
IGoogleApiClient client;
public override void OnCreate( Bundle savedInstanceState ) {
base.OnCreate( savedInstanceState );
client = new GoogleApiClientBuilder( Activity )
.EnableAutoManage( Activity as BaseFragmentActivity, 0, this )
.AddOnConnectionFailedListener( OnConnectionFailed )
.AddApi( Places.GEO_DATA_API )
.Build();
}
public override View OnCreateView( LayoutInflater inflater, ViewGroup container, Bundle savedInstanceState ) {
Places.GeoDataApi.GetAutocompletePredictions( client, "cul",
new LatLngBounds( new LatLng( 33.515071, -118.796427 ), new LatLng( 34.435985, -117.127371 ) ), null )
.SetResultCallback<AutocompletePredictionBuffer>( AutocompleteResult );
return base.OnCreateView( inflater, container, savedInstanceState );
}
public void AutocompleteResult( AutocompletePredictionBuffer buffer ) {
if( !buffer.Status.IsSuccess ) {
Toast.MakeText( Activity, buffer.Status.StatusMessage, ToastLength.Long ).Show();
return;
}
var a = new List<IAutocompletePrediction>();
for( var i = 0; i < buffer.Count; i++ ) {
var item = buffer.Get( i );
if( item is IAutocompletePrediction ) {
a.Add( (IAutocompletePrediction) item );
} else {
//all the results go in here
}
}
Toast.MakeText( Activity, a.Count.ToString(), ToastLength.Long ).Show();
}
public void OnConnectionFailed( ConnectionResult result ) {
}
}
There are 5 returned results from GetAutocompletePredictions method but all of them of type named com.google.android.gms.location.places.internal.zzb, cannot be cast to IAutocompletePrediction and I did not find any way to use them.
Did I do something wrong or this part of Xamarin's Google Play library is not fully implemented?

Answer 1

Edit - New Information
This is not a bug. The IAutocompletePrediction is not currently implemented by Xamarin so you must cast it like this
item.JavaCast<IAutocompletePrediction>()
in order to use it.
Older informaton
I've talked to Xamarin Support and they've confirmed that this is a bug.
More info on the bug fix can be found here https://bugzilla.xamarin.com/show_bug.cgi?id=31878

Answer 2

As of
Xamarin 4.0.0.1717 /
Xamarin.Android 6.0.0.35 /
Xamarin Google Play Services Location component v 27.0.0.0
, it seems there's been a bit of work in this space.
The IEnumerable interface now provides a way to get a typed response, and the following snippet (replacing part of AutocompleteResult) works:
var a = new List<IAutocompletePrediction>();
String t = "";
foreach (IAutocompletePrediction x in buffer)
{
a.Add(x);
t += "\n" + x.GetFullTextFormatted(new StyleSpan(TypefaceStyle.Normal)).ToString();
}
Toast.MakeText(Activity, t /* a.Count.ToString() */, ToastLength.Long).Show();