Google Play Services 6.5 Adds New Features to APIs

Google Play services 6.5, that will begin to roll out over the next few days, will add a series of interesting new feature to some of Google’s products, including Maps, Drive, Wallet, and Fit, TechCrunch informs based on a blog post published on the official Android Developers Blog. The goal is to offer more seamless integration of Google products within an app, offering developers a more “granular control” over the dependencies of their Android apps on Google services.

Google Maps API

The new version of the Google Maps API offers users the possibility to open Google Maps and get directions or turn by turn navigation to their destination (a selected marker) by using a toolbar. The new toolbar will show by default when compiling an app against Google Play services 6.5. The new API also introduces “lite mode” for situations in which the map is too small to interact with, or when the app provides a number of smaller maps (like thumbnails, for example). A map in “lite mode” is actually a bitmap image of a map as a specified location and a specified zoom.

Google Drive API

Developers can add custom file properties to Drive files, used for building efficient search queries and allow apps to write files guaranteed to persist when edited by other apps. Syncing files to Drive will become more energy efficient by the control over when the files are uploaded to the cloud. Developers can choose the right time to do this by checking the network type the device is connected to, or by the amount of power left in the device’s battery.

Google Wallet API

The new version of the API adds a “Donate with Google” option besides the already existing “Buy with Google”, with the same ease of collecting donations as that of purchasing items.

Google Fit API

The Google Fit API, released recently, allows for a simpler development of fitness apps, working with sensors, recording activity data and collecting the user’s aggregated fitness data. Adding activity segments will be made easier with the new release. For those in need of tips for developing their fitness apps, Google will add more samples to the release.