Google Play Services with AdMob. Check availabilit

Question

I'm in the process of migrating from AdMob SDK to Google Play Services. I've done most of the job and things seem to be working fine, but I'm not sure I understand the logic behind some of the interaction.

The changes I've made can be found here: Google Play Services Migration.

When am I utilizing Google Play Services with my new code? The site "Set up Google Play Services SDK" states that your app should verify the version available before attempting to perform API transactions. However, when running my app on an emulator that does not have Google Play Services, I am still able to fetch an ad using an AdView and AdRequest.Builder(). I do however note the LogCat warning Google Play services is missing.. How can the ad still be showing?

Also, will the Google Play Services referenced library be included in the APK export, or is this just for the development environment?

Answer 1

Google Play Services consists of two components. One is the jar linked to the app and the other is part of the system (Android OS). The AdMob ad display component is in the jar while other play services are in the system.

If a app is built with Google Play Services you will have the ability to display AdMob ads, but you won't get some of the other Google Play Services features.

So yes, when your app is linked to the library some Google Play Service classes will be included in your APK.

It is also possible to display AdMob ads by using the older (now deprecated) AdMob SDK.