GoogleApiClient.connect()' was expected to be of type interface but was found to be virtual

Question

So I am connecting to the google api client like this.

        googleApiClient = new GoogleApiClient.Builder(context)
        .addApi(LocationServices.API)
          


        

Answer 1

This a bug in Play services library 8.1.0. Solved it by downgrading the play services library.

change

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:8.1.0'

to

compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:7.8.+'

And the error no longer appears. My other code worked (as mentioned in the question because they were using the older version of the library) This will have to do until google releases an update.

Update: I wrote this before the other answer by galex came. That is the correct answer. But if you are unable to find the libraries that have these version conflicts, or if you can't change those library dependencies, the solution is to downgrade your play version to 7.8

Answer 2

      compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:7.8.+'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-maps:7.8.+'

Solved for me after 10+ hours!!

Answer 3

The problem comes from one of the libraries your app depends on, library that depends itself on Google Play Services as well.

That library is using an older version of the Google Play Services SDK and it still relies on the fact that GoogleApiClient class is an interface. This has changed in 8.1.0 where it became an abstract class. This breaks backward compatibility because of the transitive dependencies of libraries.

Look if that library you use has a new updated version with 8.1.0 as well, or remove that dependency if possible.

More explanation can be found here.