A bundle of updates arrive for the Google app, Play Music, and Play Services

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Sometimes a flurry of updates come all at once to Google’s apps. That’s the case with new versions available for Google Play Music, the Google app, and Google Play Services.
There are a lot of small pieces that should add up to a better experience if you use a lot of Google services.
The impact on you: Most of what directs your day-to-day use on Android comes from Google’s apps and services instead of Android operating system updates. So staying aware of new features and updating these core apps are essential to life as a happy Android user.

Google Play Music

This update fixes a particularly troublesome bug that was eating music stored offline when SD card storage was enabled. The update is live in the Play Store and on APK Mirror.

Google app

Version 4.9 has a new toggle in the settings that lets you turn on or off lock screen notifications for cards. An APK teardown by Android Police also uncovered a setting to tell Google to stop collecting data about app usage preferences, though it looks like that only works with the Android M preview for now. Look for the update in the Play Store or APK Mirror.

Google Play Services

This update adds in the Nearby API, which allows for detection by and connection to other devices over Bluetooth. There’s no direct mention of a tie-in to Google’s iBeacon competitor Eddystone, but it’s likely some of that groundwork is there underneath. Google Play Services updates automatically through the Play Store (Google doesn’t publish a direct link) but you can update it yourself now courtesy of APK Mirror.

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