To develop an app using the Google
Play services APIs, you need to set up your project with the Google Play services SDK.
If you haven't installed the Google Play services SDK yet, go get it now by following the guide
to Adding SDK Packages.
To test your app when using the Google Play services SDK, you must use either:
A compatible Android
device that runs Android 2.3 or higher and includes Google Play Store.
The Android emulator with an AVD
that runs the Google APIs platform based on Android 4.2.2 or higher.
Add Google Play Services to Your Project
To make the Google Play services APIs available to your app:
Open the build.gradle file inside your application module directory.
Note: Android Studio projects contain a top-level
build.gradle file and a build.gradle file for each module.
Be sure to edit the file for your application module. See
Building Your Project with
Gradle for more information about Gradle.
Add a new build rule under dependencies for the latest version of
play-services. For example:
Be sure you update this version number each time Google Play services is updated.
Note: If the number of method references in your app exceeds the
65K limit, your app may fail to compile. You
may be able to mitigate this problem when compiling your app by specifying only the specific Google
Play services APIs your app uses, instead of all of them. For information on how to do this,
see Selectively compiling APIs into your executable.
Save the changes and click Sync Project with Gradle Files
in the toolbar.
In versions of Google Play services prior to 6.5, you had to compile the entire package of APIs
into your app. In some cases, doing so made it more difficult to keep the number of methods
in your app (including framework APIs, library methods, and your own code) under the 65,536 limit.
From version 6.5, you can instead selectively compile Google Play service APIs into your app. For
example, to include only the Google Fit and Android Wear APIs, replace the following line in your
build.gradle file:
Table 1 shows a list of the separate APIs that you can include when compiling your app, and
how to describe them in your build.gradle file. Some APIs do not have a separate
library; include them by including the base library. (This lib is automatically included when
you include an API that does have a separate library.)
Table 1. Individual APIs and corresponding build.gradle descriptions.
Note: ProGuard directives are included in the Play services
client libraries to preserve the required classes. The
Android Plugin for Gradle
automatically appends ProGuard configuration files in an AAR (Android ARchive) package and appends
that package to your ProGuard configuration. During project creation, Android Studio automatically
creates the ProGuard configuration files and build.gradle properties for ProGuard use.
To use ProGuard with Android Studio, you must enable the ProGuard setting in your
build.gradlebuildTypes. For more information, see the
ProGuard topic.
To make the Google Play services APIs available to your app:
Copy the library project at
{@code <android-sdk>/extras/google/google_play_services/libproject/google-play-services_lib/}
to the location where you maintain your Android app projects.
Import the library project into your Eclipse workspace. Click
File > Import, select Android > Existing Android Code into
Workspace, and browse to the copy of the library project to import it.
Note: You should be referencing a copy of the
library that you copied to your development workspace—you should not
reference the library directly from the Android SDK directory.
After you've added the Google Play services library as a dependency for your app project,
open your app's manifest file and add the following tag as a child of the
{@code <application>}
element:
Once you've set up your project to reference the library project,
you can begin developing features with the
Google Play services APIs.
Create a ProGuard Exception
To prevent ProGuard from stripping away
required classes, add the following lines in the
<project_directory>/proguard-project.txt file:
-keep class * extends java.util.ListResourceBundle {
protected Object[][] getContents();
}
-keep public class com.google.android.gms.common.internal.safeparcel.SafeParcelable {
public static final *** NULL;
}
-keepnames @com.google.android.gms.common.annotation.KeepName class *
-keepclassmembernames class * {
@com.google.android.gms.common.annotation.KeepName *;
}
-keepnames class * implements android.os.Parcelable {
public static final ** CREATOR;
}
To make the Google Play services APIs available to your app:
Copy the library project at
{@code <android-sdk>/extras/google/google_play_services/libproject/google-play-services_lib/}
to the location where you maintain your Android app projects.
Note:
You should be referencing a copy of the library that you copied to your development
workspace—you should not reference the library directly from the Android SDK directory.
After you've added the Google Play services library as a dependency for
your app project, open your app's manifest file and add the following tag as
a child of the
{@code <application>}
element:
Once you've set up your project to reference the library project,
you can begin developing features with the
Google Play services APIs.
Create a Proguard Exception
To prevent ProGuard from stripping away
required classes, add the following lines in the
<project_directory>/proguard-project.txt file:
-keep class * extends java.util.ListResourceBundle {
protected Object[][] getContents();
}
-keep public class com.google.android.gms.common.internal.safeparcel.SafeParcelable {
public static final *** NULL;
}
-keepnames @com.google.android.gms.common.annotation.KeepName class *
-keepclassmembernames class * {
@com.google.android.gms.common.annotation.KeepName *;
}
-keepnames class * implements android.os.Parcelable {
public static final ** CREATOR;
}
Ensure Devices Have the Google Play services APK
As described in the Google Play services
introduction, Google Play delivers service updates for users on
Android 2.3 and higher through the Google Play Store app. However, updates might not reach
all users immediately, so your app should verify the version available before attempting to
perform API transactions.
Important:
Because it is hard to anticipate the state of each device, you must always check for a
compatible Google Play services APK before you access Google Play services
features.
Because each app uses Google Play services differently, it's up to you decide the appropriate
place in your app to verify the Google Play services version. For example, if Google Play
services is required for your app at all times, you might want to do it when your app first
launches. On the other hand, if Google Play services is an optional part of your app, you can check
the version only once the user navigates to that portion of your app.
Another approach is to use the
{@code isGooglePlayServicesAvailable()} method. You might call this method in the
{@link android.app.Activity#onResume onResume()} method of the main activity. If the result code is
{@code SUCCESS},
then the Google Play services APK is up-to-date and you can continue to make a connection.
If, however, the result code is
{@code SERVICE_MISSING},
{@code SERVICE_VERSION_UPDATE_REQUIRED},
or
{@code SERVICE_DISABLED}, then the user needs to install an update. In this case, call the
{@code getErrorDialog()} method and pass it the result error code. The method returns a
{@link android.app.Dialog} you should show, which provides an appropriate message about the error
and provides an action that takes the user to Google Play Store to install the update.
To then begin a connection to Google Play services (required by most Google APIs such
as Google Drive, Google+, and Games), read Accessing Google APIs.
in the toolbar.