[brian4591]

Trying to figure out:

What exactly are Google Play Services?
- Play Services is the gatekeeper for Google services on your Android device
- Gives developers API's to make google apps work together (Cloud Messaging, Drive, Location, Play Games, Android Wear and Google Fit)
- Google maps API?
- Google ad services?
- Google spying?
-
What do they do?
- Synchronized contacts (Not sure what for..?)
- Access to all the latest user privacy settings (not sure what this means)
- Higher quality, lower-powered location based services. Provides more immersive maps (Google Maps access)
- Update Google apps
- Enhances your app experience (how?)
- Speeds up offline searches
- Improves gaming experiences (how?)
- Steal your information?
-
Why do people want them?
- Just so android apps with Google services work?
- Too be cool like android users?
-
What happens when we remove Google Play Services (patch, re-sign, etc.)?
- Certain things won't work within app?
- Google can't spy on us?
-
If Google Play were to be on BB10 (I know it isn't allowed) what would be the benefit?
- Android apps would work better?
-


I have added my guesses (Italicised) as to the answers but will update as people correct my thoughts
As people give the best simple answers I'll add them to this post.

According to the Google Play Services app on Google Play:
Google Play services is used to update Google apps and apps from Google Play.
This component provides core functionality like authentication to your Google services, synchronized contacts, access to all the latest user privacy settings, and higher quality, lower-powered location based services.
Google Play services also enhances your app experience. It speeds up offline searches, provides more immersive maps, and improves gaming experiences.
Apps may not work if you uninstall Google Play services.

[Bla1ze]

Google Play Services | Android Central <-- All you need to know. If you REALLY want to get technical...

First things first — what is Google Play Services? From the user's perspective it's an app, controlled by Google which updates automatically in the background through the Google Play Store. There's not really any user-facing part of the app, unless you count the "Google Settings" icon on phones running Lollipop and earlier versions. But Play Services' various tendrils are spread throughout Android, especially in newer versions of the OS.

As a system-level "app," Play Services can run with elevated permissions and supersede anything and everything in the OS if it needs to, so Google can easily modify it do more in the future. Play Services is the gatekeeper for Google services on your Android device. To put it simply: if an Android app interacts with a Google service, chances are it's doing so through Google Play Services.


During the Google I/O 2014 keynote, Google VP Sundar Pichai said that new versions of Play Services were rolling out every six weeks, adding that 93 percent of the active Android install base was running the latest version at the time.

http://www.androidcentral.com/genius...-play-services