Minimum Google Play Services version for Push Notification

Question

I am using Google Cloud Messaging to receive Push Notifications on Android phones. I have succeed and everything seems to work well. However, Google recommends to check if Google Play Services is updated to the last version (because Push Notifications is a new feature).

Using a Nexus 7 (4.4.4) and enabling version checking at the beginning of the Activity I am required to update my Google Play Services since there is a newer version. However, Push Notifications work perfectly without the update. I do not want to require my users to update Google Play Services if it is not absolutely necessary.

My question: what is the minimum version that I should check for Google Play Services in order to receive Push Notifications from GCM?

This is the code:

    private boolean checkPlayServices() {
        int resultCode = GooglePlayServicesUtil.isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(this);
        if (resultCode != ConnectionResult.SUCCESS) {
            if (GooglePlayServicesUtil.isUserRecoverableError(resultCode)) {
                GooglePlayServicesUtil.getErrorDialog(resultCode, this,
                        PLAY_SERVICES_RESOLUTION_REQUEST).show();
            } else {
                Log.i(TAG, "This device is not supported.");
                finish();
            }
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

Remark: I don't need to check for the latest version of Google Play Services but the minimum version supporting Push Notifications

EDIT: I've made some clarification due to comments

Answer 1

I have an application with GCM enabled. As I saw in my database, there exists users with Google Play Sercvices version more than 3.0.27.

But be carefull about using GcmNetworkManager, as it needs at least google play service 7.5.0