What is Google Play Services, and what does it do?Joe Hindy / Android AuthorityGoogle Play Services is a software layer between Android and your applications. It serves as a bridge to help developers create better, more optimized, more battery-efficient apps without unnecessary work. In addition, Play Services allows Google to add new features to Android without the need for , like support for its Find My network.Here is an example of how it works. An app developer has an app that needs to send you a push notification. Play Services has two APIs for that function. The developer uses those APIs in their app. From there, Play Services sends push notifications when the app asks it to without any additional work from the developer.There are dozens, if not hundreds, of other APIs that help developers do simple tasks in a uniform way. Navigation apps asking for your location probably use Play Services to do it. Think of it as your phone’s manager, sending you notifications, giving apps your location, and running processes in the background for optimal battery efficiency.The nice part of Play Services is that it lets Google add new features without needing Android OS updates. All they have to do is add a new API to the Play Services library and then update the app on your phone to support it. Many desirable features get rolled out to users this way every year. Of course, the downside is that it can be a real pain to fix when Play Services starts acting up., Google Play services is used to update Google apps and apps from Google Play. This component provides core functionality like authentication to your Google services, synchronized, Google Play services enhance your privacy and security through reliable authentication services. With Google Sign-In and app invites, it simplifies access to apps and secures your app usage with minimal hassle..