I can't answer that question (nor can anyone else) since there are bound to be people who will experience problems - and they're the loudest. You won't hear shouts of "Google Play Services works fine for me" from the silent majority of satisfied users (which includes me).
As for "bloatware" that's a purely subjective assessment, and one with which I strongly disagree in relation to Play Services. Not only is it not bloatware but is essential to the way I choose to use my phone and tablet. You're certainly not alone in choosing not to use Google's services but amongst Android users I would guess you're in a minority.
Android is all about choice; nobody forces you to do anything.
PS: I don't really understand the need to turn everything into an acronym just for the sake of it. I'm guessing it's just a cultural thing - American perhaps?
Hi, John,
Thanks for your post. Some thoughts, in no particular order:
Acronyms are merely a convenience to save having to type long names over and over again in a document. Those who prefer to type out the full names repeatedly (may I perhaps suggest UNESCO for a start?) are of course free to do so. As to its being an American thing, the long lists of acronyms at the excellent
Abbreviations and acronyms dictionary site make it clear that their use appears to be universally spread around the globe.
Actually, we do hear shouts of "Google Play Services works fine for me" in the great number of users who gave the app five stars. My concern was with the unusually high number of users who were giving low ratings and reporting problems. Of course there will always be some users who can't figure out or work with even the simplest apps and will take out their frustration by giving low ratings, but when well-regarded apps are getting ratings in the 4.2-4.7 range and this one, from Google itself, is getting only 3.7, it is not unreasonable to investigate why so many users are dissatisfied.
As to "Android is all about choice; nobody forces you to do anything," I must respectfully disagree and say that that is demonstrably false. If "Android is all about choice," why doesn't Android give users the choice of deleting non-essential or unwanted Google apps from the phone? Why doesn't Android give users the ability to use Google apps without having their privacy invaded by having their locations tracked, their emails scanned, and their Web choices recorded? If Android were really about choice, users would not be locked into using Google-supplied versions of Android software and there would be no need to root Android phones in order to be able to get choice.
Google does indeed offer many excellent applications, but they come at the price of invasion of the user's privacy, a price which I and many others - most of us, I suspect, with a knowledge of history and at least a little grey hair - find far too high and very disturbing, so we use Google apps sparingly when necessary, while choosing less invasive alternate applications when possible. As to those who like and prefer to use Google apps, I genuinely wish them well, as I am personally very much "all about choice."
Cheers,
HH33