Does MvvmCross rely on Google Play Services? - android

I am considering using Xamarin.Android and MvvmCross on an enterprise device that does not have Google Play Services or any other Google apps/services (i.e. Google Maps).
Does MvvmCross have any dependencies on Google Play Services or other Google apps/services that may not exist on an enterprise device?

No. The only time you would need to install the Google Play Services component is if you use a feature like Maps, Cloud Messaging, or In-app purchases.
MvvmCross is very modular and you include only the features you need primarily via plugins.

As mentioned by #Kiliman, MvvmCross has no dependencies on Google Play.
To get you started here are two good links:
1) Writing a first App
2) Video on using MvvmCross and Android (iOS and Windows as well)

Related

Google play services and relation with android version

I will be developing an app that uses Google Vision API in order to scan barcode. I am successfully able to write and test the app. However, I found out that the API has to be supported for Android's ICS i.e. version 4 and above. I am using Google Play Services 8.4 version. Will I be able to use this app? I have just created a prototype of app only.
In short is there any relationship between google play services and android version? If yes where can I find it. Thanks.
you may refer to this link in order to know more regarding google play services and android versions. https://developers.google.com/android/guides/setup
Here is what I was looking for. I wanted to check if version 8.4 of google play services is available for android 2.3 or not.

Which dependencies to use between Firebase and Google Play Services?

I recently started playing with Firebase, but I cannot completely understand its relation with Google Play Services. I know that Firebase is a mobile platform, and on Android it is based on Google Play Services, but why there are some modules with the same name of the ones of Google Play Services?
For example, in my build.gradle I can have:
com.google.android.gms:play-services-auth:9.4.0
com.google.android.gms:play-services-ads:9.4.0
but also:
com.google.firebase:firebase-auth:9.4.0
com.google.firebase:firebase-ads:9.4.0
I see that on Firebase documentation there is the list of available components (and note that the last one is actually a Google Play Services module):
com.google.android.gms:play-services-appindexing:9.4.0
The same list for Google Play Services is much longer, so some modules are not available using only Firebase dependencies. Which dependencies should I use and why? Can I use mixed dependencies?
On this new Firebase (from May 18th), Google added a few existing services to it. Google Play Services already had features like: Analytics, AdMob, Test Lab, etc. And you could use them from your Google Developer Console.
But then, they decided to merge some of those features with firebase. This way, you can have all of the features "together" on your Firebase Console. They are now unified to give your users a better experience and to help you (as a developer) easily manage your project.
So, if you want to use firebase, you should use the firebase dependencies. The Google play dependencies are meant for projects created on the Google Developer Console.

Update Google Play services for an old app

I have an old app which uses Google play services 5.08. Since the app uses kiosk mode, we never updated google play services on the device. Now I have to update the google play services to 8.4. I also want the already existing users to use the app without getting crashes. So how do I support both of 5.08 and 8.4 APIs to support in the app? I see Google doesn't expose the APIs of 5.08 when I use 8.4 in Gradle file.
Create a newer version of the app that will use the latest google play service(8.4). Retain the older version of the app for the current google play service(5.08).
The version of the Google Play Service will depend on the APIs your application implements. Supporting both google play service in an app will affect your application performance in a negative way or it is not applicable. Every update of Google Play service adds new APIs connected and older APIs improved. Consider the APIs your application will implement, then decide which version of google play services should your user update to have a smooth running application.
The Google Play services client
library
The client library contains the interfaces to the individual Google
services and allows you to obtain authorization from users to gain
access to these services with their credentials. It also contains APIs
that allow you to resolve any issues at runtime, such as a missing,
disabled, or out-of-date Google Play services APK. The client library
has a light footprint if you use
ProGuard as
part of your build process, so it won't have an adverse impact on your
app's file size.
If you want to access added features or products, you can upgrade to a
new version of the client library as they are released. However,
upgrading is not necessary if you don't care about new features or bug
fixes. We anticipate more Google services to be continuously added, so
be on the lookout for these updates.

Google Mobile Ads and Kindle Fire

I recently replaced AdMob library with Google Mobile Ads and I have a question about that: Will ads appear on Amazon Kindle Fire devices?
I ask this because I know that Google Mobile Ads depends on Google Play Services, so I'm a little confused.
Google Play Services still supports devices that don't have the Google Play store
installed on it. The only difference is that devices without the Play
Store (and the accompanied Google Play Services app) on it will not receive automatic
updates, so you'll still want to grab new versions of the library
provided in Android SDK manager and include them when releasing your
app.
As you can see above, if Google Play Services is not installed on the device, it will fall back to the version you included with your app as a library.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/google-admob-ads-sdk/obflEHgq_og

Using ads - Google Play Service vs. Android SDK

I'd like to implement banner-ads in my new app and stumbled across two possibilitys of doing this.
The first one is using the Android SDK: com.google.ads.*
The second one is using Google Play Services: com.google.android.gms.ads.*
I googled a lot and read the documentation but I found no resources which state the differences between both solutions.
What is the difference between both and which one is the best if I simply want to add banner-ads in my app?
Direct to the point,
The main difference is that if you use Google Play Services one then you will use Google play service APIs. If you use other modules of Google Play like maps, location, gcm, play games then you can use com.google.android.gms.ads.* but if you don't use other Services then use com.google.ads.*
Their behavior is same...
As Selvin did not post his comment as an answer I'll answer this question by myself:
Use the Google Play Services com.google.android.gms.ads.*
Don't use the Android SDK for Ads because it is deprecated:
Deprecated. On August 1, 2014, Google Play will stop accepting new or
updated apps that use the old standalone Google Mobile Ads SDK v6.4.1
or lower. You must upgrade to the Google Play version of the Mobile
Ads SDK by then.
Google Mobile Ads SDK

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