Right off the bat here at Google I/O, the company is telling developers about some awesome new tools for apps. A new series of APIs will enable a variety of new services for both developers and end users. Here are some of the highlights.

Version 2 of the Location API, which includes:

  • Geofencing (assigning triggers to specific geographical locations) and up to 100 fences per app
  • a fused location provider, which should allow for active location gathering at just 1% battery drain per hour or increased accuracy
  • Activity recognition - API can recognize if users are walking, biking, driving, et cetera. Advanced applications can read confidence values for different activities.

Authorization API:

  • cross-platform simple sign-on

Google cloud messaging (now part of Google Play Services)

  • Persistent connections between Google and API servers
  • Upstream messaging! Use GCM to send data from devices to servers
  • Cross-device synchronized notifications! You won't have to dismiss an alert on both your phone and tablet.

Google Play Game Services (See full Games post)

  • Achievements
  • Leaderboards
  • Cloud game saves
  • Multiplayer auto-matching and invites

Google Location APIs

Authorization API

Google Play Game Services