Google is defragging Android (ars technica)
Google is defragging Android (ars technica)
[Distributions] Posted Sep 3, 2013 1:26 UTC (Tue) by corbet
Ars technica has posted a
look at the new "Google Play Services" mechanism running on most
Android devices. "Google's strategy is clear. Play Services has
system-level powers, but it's updatable. It's part of the Google apps
package, so it's not open source. OEMs are not allowed to modify it, making
it completely under Google's control. Play Services basically acts as a
shim between the normal apps and the installed Android OS. Right now Play
Services handles the Google Maps API, Google Account syncing, remote wipe,
push messages, the Play Games back end, and many other duties. If you ever
question the power of Google Play Services, try disabling it. Nearly every
Google App on your device will break.
"