Google Play Services is a package of APIs that helps your Android device work properly. It's like the engine behind many popular apps and services on your phone, including Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and more. Without it, some of these important programs won't function correctly or at all.
This software package ensures that your apps can work even if you don't update your Android OS right away, and it helps keep location information up to date. Google Play Services also makes sure that the games on your phone can interact with each other for a better gaming experience, like letting you see leaderboards or play multiplayer games.
One of its key functions is to help apps work together more efficiently by providing services that connect them, like location data and syncing user information across different programs. Google Play Services also makes it possible to use things like Chromecast with your phone or tablet, so you can stream music and videos seamlessly without any issues.
This package also helps apps make money by allowing them to display advertisements based on where the user is located or other factors that are relevant to their interests. It can even handle things like payments for in-app purchases and Google Wallet transactions.
Google Play Services works quietly behind the scenes, managing how your apps talk to each other and using very little battery power in the process. It updates itself regularly without any intervention from you - but if something does go wrong, it's not easy to disable this package or find an alternative solution like MicroG.
In short: Google Play Services is the glue that holds together many of your favorite Android apps and services, making sure everything runs smoothly even when you don't know it's there. It helps keep location data accurate, connect games to each other for a better gaming experience, and makes sure important things like ads and payments work correctly across all your apps.