Which Google Play Services Version Do I Need

Google Play Services will cease updates for older versions of Android

Google Play Services is a library plant on all Google-certified Android devices, which powers the Play Store and dozens of APIs for applications that tertiary-party apps tin apply. Play Services also serves every bit a conduit for Google to push new features to older versions of Android, like the Nearby Share functionality that recently arrived on all Android 6.0+ devices. Nevertheless, a few very one-time phones and tablets won't receive new Play Services updates moving forward.

Google appear today in a blog postal service that it will no longer update Google Play Services on Android Jelly Edible bean, which includes versions 4.1-4.3 (API levels 16, 17, and eighteen). Google says the older operating systems are beingness dropped because Jelly Bean now represents less than 1% of active Android users. The concluding release for devices with Jelly Bean volition be Play Services v21.30.99, which is expected to arrive at the terminate of Baronial. The current latest version of the app is 21.24.18.

"The functionality required by the electric current SDK versions," Google said, "is already present on [Jelly Bean] devices with Google Play services and volition continue to work without change." Developers using the Play Services SDK in their apps are recommended to use API level nineteen (Android 4.4 KitKat) as the minimum supported API level to avoid bug. It's also possible for developers to compile multiple APKs, with each APK containing a different version of the Play Services library, if they need to maintain support for Jelly Bean devices.

Android 4.1 Jelly Edible bean was first released in July 2012, with features like expandable notifications, USB audio, and a smoother interface. Android 4.2 arrived in November 2012 with lock screen improvements and multiple user account support, and Android 4.3 was released in July 2013 with Bluetooth LE and a reworked photographic camera app.

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Corbin Davenport

Corbin is a tech journalist and software developer based in Raleigh, North Carolina. He's likewise the host of the Tech Tales podcast, which explores the history of the engineering industry. Follow him on Twitter at @corbindavenport.