Google Play Services will be used to deploy COVID-19 contact tracing system to Android devices

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One of the critical questions Google needed to answer about the COVID-19 contact tracing system it was co-developing with Apple is how it would deploy the technology to its devices. The company has since confirmed that it will use Google Play Services infrastructure to make this happen. 

It guarantees that more Android phones will receive the capability promptly since full operating system updates are unfortunately fraught with delays from both carriers and manufacturers. Releasing the system on Google Play Services also means it will be available on handsets running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or above.

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Google reportedly working on a cross-platform version of Apple's AirDrop

Dubbed as Copresence, Google is tipped to be working on a new service that will let Android devices share media with those nearby, even if they are running on iOS. An Android Police source spotted the information while digging around the new Google Play Services APK. Copresence will make use of location information or Bluetooth to authenticate based on proximity. This will be unlike Android Beam that needed contact list approval. It will reportedly let you share information via Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi direct and it would probably have strong integration with Hangouts chat app as seen in the graphics uncovered in the APK.

Source: Android Police | Via: TechCrunch

Google outs new version of Play Services

Google recently unveiled Google Play Services 4.1 version with new features designed to help users and developers. The major update is the promise of improved battery life when using location services. Another includes better integration of Google+ sharing with improved autocomplete and suggested contacts when sharing from a Play Services app to the social network.

Google also improved turn-based multiplayer support to allow developers to develop games that supports two to eight players. The turn data of the players will be uploaded to Play Services and shared with other players. The tech company also added an optional “Connecting to Play Games” animation when signing in to help contextualize the pop-up permission dialog that will appear after. There is also a new developer preview of Google Drive API that lets developers read and write files on Google Drive and access common UI components such as save dialog and file picker.