Overview of Google Play services
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Google Play services powers a broad set of SDKs on Android for building
your app, enhancing privacy and security, engaging users, and growing your
business. These SDKs only require a lightweight client library to be
included in your app, as shown in figure 1. At runtime, the client library
communicates with a full implementation running in the main Google
Play services application.
By providing shared, client-side implementations, Google Play services:
- Helps to optimize on-device resources, such as storage and memory, to improve
app quality and your users' overall
experience.
- Receives automatic updates—independent of OS, OEM, or app updates—so your
users receive improvements and bug fixes more quickly.
- Provides backward compatibility to Android 6.0
(API level 23) and works across various form factors,
enabling you to reach more users with less effort.
Figure 1. Google Play services receives regular updates that contain
improvements and bug fixes.
How Google Play services works
SDKs
Each Google Play services SDK includes a lightweight client library with APIs
that interact with a service that runs in the Google Play services application.
These libraries also provide helpers to gracefully handle runtime issues, such
as when a service is missing, disabled, or out-of-date. When you
enable code shrinking, the
R8 optimizer
further reduces the SDK's impact on your package size by removing unused code.
To access new Google Play services features or products, upgrade the SDK when a
new version is released to the Google Maven
repository.
Services
Google Play services contains a core set of on-device background services that
run on all Google-certified Android devices.
Automatic updates to Google Play services are delivered independent of carrier,
OS, or OEM system image updates. In general, devices running Android 6.0 or
higher receive updates automatically, provided that these devices have Google
Play services installed and sufficient storage available. This means that users
receive improvements and bug fixes more quickly, and you can take advantage of
the latest APIs while reaching most devices in the Android ecosystem. Devices
older than Android 6.0, or devices without Google Play services installed,
aren't supported.
Next steps: set up your app
To begin using Google Play services APIs in your app, read this setup
guide.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-14 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Play services optimizes app performance and user experience by providing shared, client-side implementations of SDKs, minimizing resource usage.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAutomatic updates to Google Play services ensure users receive the latest improvements and bug fixes quickly, independent of OS or device updates.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Play services offers broad compatibility, supporting Android 6.0 (API level 23) and above, various form factors, enabling wider user reach with less development effort.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eSDKs powered by Google Play services utilize lightweight client libraries, reducing app size and ensuring efficient interactions with Google services.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Play services runs essential Google services in the background on certified Android devices, delivering automatic updates for enhanced functionality and security.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google Play services provides lightweight SDK client libraries for Android apps, which interact with shared services on the device. These services optimize device resources, receive automatic updates independent of OS or app updates, and offer backward compatibility to Android 6.0. Developers can update SDKs to access new features through the Google Maven repository. Automatic updates are delivered to devices with Google Play services installed and running Android 6.0 or later. R8 optimizer can reduce the footprint of each SDK.\n"],null,["Google Play services powers a broad set of SDKs on Android for building\nyour app, enhancing privacy and security, engaging users, and growing your\nbusiness. These SDKs only require a lightweight client library to be\nincluded in your app, as shown in figure 1. At runtime, the client library\ncommunicates with a full implementation running in the main Google\nPlay services application.\n\nBy providing shared, client-side implementations, Google Play services:\n\n- Helps to optimize on-device resources, such as storage and memory, to improve [app quality](https://developer.android.com/quality) and your users' overall experience.\n- Receives automatic updates---independent of OS, OEM, or app updates---so your users receive improvements and bug fixes more quickly.\n- Provides backward compatibility to Android 6.0 (API level 23) and works across various form factors, enabling you to reach more users with less effort.\n\n**Figure 1.** Google Play services receives regular updates that contain\nimprovements and bug fixes.\n\nHow Google Play services works\n\nSDKs\n\nEach Google Play services SDK includes a lightweight client library with APIs\nthat interact with a service that runs in the Google Play services application.\nThese libraries also provide helpers to gracefully handle runtime issues, such\nas when a service is missing, disabled, or out-of-date. When you\nenable code shrinking, the\n[R8 optimizer](https://developer.android.com/studio/build/shrink-code)\nfurther reduces the SDK's impact on your package size by removing unused code.\n\nTo access new Google Play services features or products, upgrade the SDK when a\nnew version is [released](/android/guides/releases) to the [Google Maven\nrepository](https://maven.google.com/web/index.html#com.google.android.gms).\n\nServices\n\nGoogle Play services contains a core set of on-device background services that\nrun on all Google-certified Android devices.\n\nAutomatic updates to Google Play services are delivered independent of carrier,\nOS, or OEM system image updates. In general, devices running Android 6.0 or\nhigher receive updates automatically, provided that these devices have Google\nPlay services installed and sufficient storage available. This means that users\nreceive improvements and bug fixes more quickly, and you can take advantage of\nthe latest APIs while reaching most devices in the Android ecosystem. Devices\nolder than Android 6.0, or devices without Google Play services installed,\naren't supported.\n\nNext steps: set up your app\n\nTo begin using Google Play services APIs in your app, read this [setup\nguide](/android/guides/setup)."]]