Cannot resolve symbol 'GoogleApiClient' - android-studio

Question

I am trying to upgrade my Google Play Services library so I can use the newest Android Gradle (3.2) and Android SDK version (28). The issue is all of my GMS imports cannot be resolved.
Examples:
import com.google.android.gms.common.api.GoogleApiClient;
and
import com.google.android.gms.games.Games;
I've already looked at various questions that have issues with importing these libraries but none are up-to-date or appear to fix my issue. I've tried invalidating cache/restart, clean/rebuild project. Currently I am importing a google-play-services_lib library, which has the bundled GMS as a dependency: com.google.android.gms:play-services:12.0.1
My project build.gradle:
buildscript {
repositories {
google()
jcenter()
maven { url 'https://maven.google.com' }
maven { url 'https://jitpack.io' }
mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.2.1'
classpath 'com.google.gms:google-services:4.2.0'
}
}
allprojects {
repositories {
google()
jcenter()
maven { url 'https://maven.google.com' }
}
}
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
android {
sourceSets {
main {
manifest.srcFile 'src/main/AndroidManifest.xml'
java.srcDirs = ['src']
resources.srcDirs = ['src']
aidl.srcDirs = ['src']
renderscript.srcDirs = ['src']
res.srcDirs = ['res']
assets.srcDirs = ['assets']
}
debug.setRoot('build-types/debug')
release.setRoot('build-types/release')
}
compileSdkVersion 28
defaultConfig {
applicationId "com.example.exampleapp"
minSdkVersion 14
targetSdkVersion 28
versionCode 34 // increment with every release
versionName '3.0.5' // change with every release
setProperty("archivesBaseName", "example_$versionName")
}
signingConfigs {
release {
keyAlias = "example key alias"
}
}
buildTypes {
release {
minifyEnabled true
}
}
}
dependencies {
implementation project(':google-play-services_lib')
implementation project(':appcompat_v7')
}
repositories {
google()
jcenter()
maven { url 'https://maven.google.com' }
}
My module/app build.gradle:
buildscript {
repositories {
google()
jCenter()
mavenCentral()
maven {
url 'https://maven.google.com/'
name 'Google'
}
}
dependencies {
classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:3.2.1'
}
}
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
dependencies {
compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: '*.jar')
compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v4:22.0.0'
compile 'com.google.android.gms:play-services:12.0.1'
}
android {
compileSdkVersion 28
sourceSets {
main {
manifest.srcFile 'AndroidManifest.xml'
java.srcDirs = ['src']
resources.srcDirs = ['src']
aidl.srcDirs = ['src']
renderscript.srcDirs = ['src']
res.srcDirs = ['res']
assets.srcDirs = ['assets']
}
// Move the tests to tests/java, tests/res, etc...
instrumentTest.setRoot('tests')
// Move the build types to build-types/<type>
// For instance, build-types/debug/java, build-types/debug/AndroidManifest.xml, ...
// This moves them out of them default location under src/<type>/... which would
// conflict with src/ being used by the main source set.
// Adding new build types or product flavors should be accompanied
// by a similar customization.
debug.setRoot('build-types/debug')
release.setRoot('build-types/release')
}
}
Hopefully there is a way to resolve these import errors, which seems to be a disconnect between the gradle building of support libraries and the actual project itself...

Answer 1

Found it. For a migration from way-way back (like target API <= 21), get rid of using the bundle/manual library and stick with a newer Gradle version:
Remove the meta tag from Android Manifest that specifies a Google Play Services version (the bundled version)
Remove your google-play-services_lib
Add the necessary GMS dependencies to the project-level build.gradle, whether manually or in File → Project Structure → MyApp Module → Dependencies tab and add library, even if it doesn't show in the new Android Studio's library search.
Example: implementation 'com.google.android.gms:play-services-base:16.0.1'
I know this was fairly obvious but this might be a good post for migrating somewhat-old Android apps that use GMS to newer versions. This at least lets you pick which GMS modules to use rather than the bulky bundle.