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Google Play Services: What are they, and how do they keep your Android phone safe?

Get to know your Android phone's very core.

And for Google, Play Services acts as insurance against the rise of "forked" Android, as we've seen through the difficulties faced by Huawei when it was blacklisted a few years ago. Without Google Play Services, rolling out anything like the COVID-19 ENS would likely have required herculean effort from manufacturers and carriers to develop and certify updated firmware for every Android phone in the world. But such an endeavor represents a huge technical challenge, so for most manufacturers who aren't legally compelled to not work with Google, it's easier to just license Play Services along with the rest of GMS.

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