Using Google Play Games Services in emulator

Question

I'm working on a game which integrates Google Play Games Services. It works fine on a physical device. But when I run the app on an emulator it says "Install Play Games Services" as shown below.

I'm using x86_64 Android 6.0 (with Google APIs) image for emulator. I've tried other images too but all had same result. The emulator has Google Play Services 8.4.89.

I've tried updating the emulator images to the latest. But it didn't help.

One thing that worked partially was sideloading the Play Games apk to the emulator. It worked on some emulators and it was hard to find the apk corresponding to each emulator configurations. Also I feel this is not the genuine/official way to resolve this as it's a hacky workaround.

So I'm looking for a solution that is officially recommended to resolve this problem.

Please don't suggest to click the INSTALL button as it will work only on a real device.

Answer 1

I had same problem when I used Games.API.

Install Google Play APK Expansion Library then Play Games Services will be in emulator.

Install Google Play APK Expansion Library in SDK Tools

Answer 2

Some Emulator images are marked (Google API), and some are marked (Google Play). In my limited experience the (Google API) do not contain the play store, so do not permit updating the play game services or install from scratch if its not there. The (Google Play) has the play store, so I can get rolling by letting it upgrade itself and install Play Games. I tested this on x86, and API 26,27,28.

According to Google's documentation they recommend running on a physical device, so I guess some hassle might be expected, though it did seem to work for me.

With thanks to this medium post by Daishi Kato, its possible to download the GoogleApps (opengapps) and install it manually.

Answer 3

Google now officially adds Play Services to Nexus5, 5x, Pixel, Pixel 2 images. When creating a virtual device consider there is a Play Store icon in the Play Store column or not.