Google Play Services Bug / Connect Nearby Devices

[Gareth Evans]

There is a bug in the current release of Google Play Services that stops devices being able to use Google Nearby (used to connect nearby devices).  This bug has been reported by other developers already (https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/299170799).  Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do until Google fix this (they regularly update this app).

The last working version of Google Play Services is version: 23.33.16 (released on 1st September)

To see if you are affected by this bug, go to the Connect devices screen, set your device as 'Host' and then click on the Advertise button.  If you open the extra settings window at the bottom of the screen you will see Advertise - error in the connections log if there is an issue.

You can manually downgrade Google Play Services if you are confident you know what you are doing, are willing to take full responsibility for any issues you may encounter and are 100% unable to use the app without connect devices working.

• Switch off Google Play Store automatic updates (otherwise downgraded Google Play Services will be updated when it next checks).  Open Google Play Store, go to the Settings and from the 'Network Preferences' option, select the 'Auto-update apps' option and set it to 'Don't auto-update apps'.  This applies to all apps.
• Try to uninstall any recent updates to Google Play Services (may not be available or an option) by clicking on this link in your device and then clicking on 'Uninstall' or 'Uninstall updates'.  Searching for Google Play Services manually will often not show the app in Google Play Store.  If you can't uninstall the updates, you will probably not be able to install the downloaded version (as it will be an older file and will be rejected as an update).
• Download a working version of Google Play Services that is appropriate for your device from APK mirror.  The link here takes you to the June version (which I have tested and confirm working).  Where possible, select the no-dpi version and the version that matches the Android version you are running.
• Open the downloaded apk/apkm file that you downloaded and it should install.  It may ask you to confirm security settings to install potentially unsafe files.  If it installs, you will now be running a working version of Google Play Services as a temporary work around until Google update the app to fix the bug.  When this happens, open up the Google Play Services app on Google Play Store (use the link above) and click on Update to get the newest version.

I'll update this post when there is a fix released by Google.

[Gareth Evans]

I should have also added that if you manually downgrade Google Play Services, you will likely be warned that device backup is switched off (you can easily reenable it by clicking on the warning).  You may also find that any payment cards added to Google Pay will need to be reactivated.

[Gareth Evans]

A link to the 1st Sept (working) version of Google Play Services rather than the June one above is:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/google-play-services/google-play-services-23-33-16-release/