MALE SPEAKER: We're really excited that we've
released Android L. And now we're
also super excited to announce that we are releasing Google
Play services 6.5 enabling you to build better apps.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Yeah.
That's what this is all about.
When you start using all the APIs of Google Play services,
you will be building better apps.
And as always, when you develop using Google Play services,
it will run on all devices, starting with Gingerbread.
So let's check out the new features in 6.5.
And let's have some fun while we're doing it.
High five, Gingerbread man.
So starting off with the Google Drive Android API,
imagine that your app needs to upload lots of drive data.
Let's say gigabytes.
Well, in that case, you may want to ensure
that you're connected to a power source
and you're on a Wi-Fi network.
Well, now, you can programmatically
specify these types of conditions for uploads.
And in this release, it is also possible to cancel
pending uploads that you don't want.
So these features allow you to control and conserve
precious resources, such as network and battery,
for users of your app.
Another new feature is that you can now create empty files.
Nope, there's no data in here.
And perhaps saving the best for last,
we've now added the possibility to add
public and private properties to your file.
This is like custom metadata your app assigns
to a file that can describe the file content.
And, of course, you can also use this information
when doing queries.
Moving over to Google Maps, which
is truly an amazing product.
You can navigate through the entire world using it.
But sometimes, you don't want to navigate
through the entire world.
Have you ever wanted just a small, simple map?
That's exactly what Lite mode maps provides.
Here is one showing the Googleplex.
Lite mode maps allow you to serve a static image as a map.
But it still supports many of the features of ordinary maps,
including different map types, such as terrain and satellite.
Markers and polylines are also supported.
Here, you can see a mark for Googleplex, for example.
And user location can also be displayed.
Here, for example, is where I am right now.
And since Lite mode maps are based on a static image,
there is no need for continuous server communication
to update the map.
So you can truly say that they are Lite mode.
So if you have a bounded area or maps
that are too small to interact with,
or if you want to stack a number of small maps together,
then you should consider using Lite mode maps.
And guess what?
It is really easy to switch to full blown map functionality.
The user just needs to tap on the static image.
Now, we've also added a new toolbar.
This toolbar works for both regular as well as Lite mode
maps and enables the user to quickly open Google Maps
and immediately get directions.
And that brings us over to Google Wallet.
Previously, we've had the Buy with Google
and the various Save to Google buttons.
And now, we're also adding a Donate with Google button.
That's right.
This makes donating as easy as buying things, exactly
the way that it should be, which brings us over
to a much-discussed topic.
Let's go really, really deep technically.
Let's talk about the Google Play services SDK and something
that will help manage the 16-bit method limit of dex files.
[BEEPING]
Previous versions of the Google Play services SDK
required you to depend on all of Google Play services
to do one aar file.
So your gradle build file looked something like this.
Yeah, a single line that included everything
in Google Play services.
And as we've continued to add more APIs,
it has proven hard to maintain a lean app.
Therefore, we have unbundled this aar file,
so you can select only the APIs you want to use.
Here's an example gradle build file
that only uses the maps and the ads API of Google Play
services.
And while there are many aspects and ways
to manage the 16-bit method limit of dex files,
this should make it easier to keep your app lean,
since you select the APIs you want to include in your build.
And that's almost it for this time.
I say almost, because there's one more thing to cover.
Let's go out in the wild and talk about the Google Fit API.
Google Fit was officially released in October,
so now it's high time for you to develop your applications
and publish them to the Google Play store.
Here is an application, for example.
Nathan has a band around his chest, which
allows a Google Fit application to measure and record
his heartbeats while he is doing chin-ups.
NATHAN: Now, it's your turn.
MALE SPEAKER: Hot dog, do I get to try.
Eeee!
That's it for this time, but be sure to check out
these resources as well.
Now it's your turn to go out there and build better apps
using all of these APIs.
And don't forget to tell us all about it.