Heads up, Android developers! Nearly two months after Google let loose the Google Play services 4.3 update, the Mountain View firm has announced that update 4.4 is now making its way out into the world. Here are the goodies that you can expect to find in this new release:
- Google Maps Android API: Developers can now embed Street View imagery into their apps, allowing users to use the feature’s 360-degree panoramic view functionality.
- Activity Recognition: Location API now includes Running and Walking activity detectors that will let an app know if the device is being used while running or walking.
- Games Services Update: Users can now select multiple Game Gifts recipients, which Google says will allow for more collaboration and social engagement among users.
- Mobile Ads: New APIs allow apps to display in-app promo ads, which allow users to easily and directly purchase an advertised item.
- Wallet Fragments: Google has reworked the Instant Buy API to make it easy to integrate Google Wallet Instant Buy into an app.
As with the previous Google Play services update, this new release may not mean much to us regular consumers right now, but it does serve as a nice preview of features that will likely be added to our apps in the coming weeks and months. Google says that the Google Play services 4.4 update is now rolling out worldwide.
The company also teased that Google I/O is coming up fast, adding that it had “no need to say more.” Sounds to me like El Goog might have big plans for Play services. Stay tuned.
Via Android Developers
