Google Play Services is getting a nice update today, which could end up meaning big things for users. Via several new APIs, Developers will be able to cobble in quite a bit of utility. From fitness to advertising, things are changing for Android.
The rundown of new APIs available for Android users was listed by the Play Store team on Google+, showing the new functionality available. Some, like a new “Activity Recognition” detector add to the location API already in place, noted as “two new activity detectors have been added to Location API: Running and Walking” in the post.
Street View images can also be added to an app, with Google saying Developers can “embed Street View imagery into your app & extensions to Indoor Maps.” That could make website functionality on mobile a bit cleaner, and also offer a back-end solution for navigating larger retail establishments.
Wallet is getting an API that should make it “extremely easy to add Google Wallet Instant Buy to an app.” That dovetails nicely with the other change Google is making, as mobile ads start to become more ubiquitous across apps. According to Google, the new ad API will offer “In-app promo ads enable users to directly buy virtual goods”, and gets “publishers to display in-app promo ads, which enables users to purchase advertised items directly”.
Once the rollout takes place, which Google posits will take several days, Developers can get cracking on implementing these tweaks. We like the Activity Recognition API for Android Wear, as we’ve always thought the location tracking technology was a great backbone for this type of functionality. Street View is also neat, using Maps as a native solution for discoverability of stores, and goods within a store.
Mobile ads and Wallet functionality, though — that’s tough to fall in love with. It seems like a subversive push by Google for monetization, and to bolster efforts they’re making elsewhere for a better mobile ad presence. You tell us, though: what do you think of all this? Do ads in your app bother you, especially when they route to goods Google wants you to purchase? Let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Google Developers Blog
