Google Play is big business. That’s no surprise, it’s also growing. So it’s no surprise that a part of the keynote address this morning concentrated on Google Play Services, and they’re getting some pretty decent features.
Sundar Pichai listed off exactly how big Google Play as a business has gotten by talking about revenue from Google Play. Since last year’s Google I/O, Google has paid out over $5 Billion to developers. This massive figure is big, but the true figure which shows the growth is that this figure is 2.5x the amount paid out the previous year.
Ellie Powers, Product Manager, Google Play took the reigns for the Google Play Services introduction where she spoke about how Google delivers a wide range of developer tools to help developers: Develop, Distribute and Monetize.
First up – Testing. Google wants this to be easy, they want developers to get their apps tested as easily and as much as possible. To that end, they’ve announced the purchase of Appurify. Appurify will be joining Google, and show they are just as passionate about testing services as Google. Appurify provides cross-platform testing services to replicate how your app reacts in the real world. As well as cross-platform testing, they also provide global device support and connectivity simulations.
From these tests, they provide fully detailed logs to developers to help developers get their users working, beautiful apps. And, in something that seems to be a Apple’s purchase of TestFlight and subsequent closure of services to Android apps, Google announced that Appuriify will be continue to be available to iOS and Android.
Ellie also announced the new Google fitness platform which leaked last week: Google Fit. Google Fit is a cloud based service designed to help consumers get the most out of their fitness apps. Whereas traditionally devices have been siloed, Google Fit will allow devices and apps to sync data across platforms, so you can truly control your fitness, weightloss or muscle gain.
They announced a wide variety of partners for Google Fit, including Nike+, Adidas, Runtastic, RunKeeper, Polar, HTC, Motorola and more.
Finally Google Play Games is getting some more features. Why, because it’s now listed as the fastest growing game network of all time. They have seen over 100 million new users in last 6 months. To that end, Google is adding some new features for gamers, both casual and hard-core.
Quests, are something new that developers can incorporate into their games. Quests can be time-based, online objectives that developers can add through Google Play Games, without having to update the app.
Saved Games, something everyone has been wanting. The Saved game feature will save your progress across devices. The saved game includes a cover image, as well as a description and time you’ve spent in-game.
Finally, Google has implemented a new feature involving billing. Direct Carrier billing will be available for tablets, you will soon be able to purchase content through Google Play using Direct Carrier Billing. Adding content to your telephone bill, even on a Wifi only tablet.
There’s a lot of features for Google Play Services, with constant updates all the time. New updates reach Google Play Services every 6 weeks, with 93% of Android devices, receiving the updates. The latest Google Play Services with these updates is expected to rollout over the next few weeks.
I wonder if Google will ever manage to convince Telstra to allow Direct Carrier Billing over WiFi.
Why would anyone want that? I Think most people want things to move away from Telcos.