Google Play Services 4.0 Now Available

Google Play Services 4.0 was released on Thursday. The new update brings the Google Mobile Ads SDK and other improvements for Google+, geofencing, and Google Wallet Instant Buy APIs.

Google is dropping support for Froyo, which means the new APIs will not work on that aging mobile OS.

In a blog post Google writes:

“If you’re using AdMob to monetize your apps, the new Google Mobile Ads SDK in Google Play services helps provide seamless improvements to your users. For example, bug fixes get pushed automatically to users without you having to do anything. Check out the post on the Google Ads Developer Blog for more details.”

“The Maps and Geofencing APIs that launched in Google Play services 3.1 have been updated to improve overall battery efficiency and responsiveness,” Google adds. “You can save power by requesting larger latency values for notifications alerting your app to users entering or exiting geofences, or request that entry alerts are sent only after a user stays within a geofence for a specified period of time. Setting generous dwell times helps to eliminate unwanted notifications when a user passes near a geofence or their location is seen to move across a boundary.”

Also included with the update is the Google+ sign-in, which is updated with consent dialog and Wallet Instant Buy APIs, now available for all to try within a sandbox. The new APIs streamline the buy-flow and reduces integration time. Instant Buy also includes new Wallet Objects.

The final upgrade feature is a new anonymous identifier for ads which is used instead of Android ID.

You can examine the full Google Play Services 4.0 upgrade here.

Google Play Services 4.0 is still being rolled out to Android devices.