Google has decided to end support for older Android devices. What does this mean to you?
Do you have a smartphone that still runs on Android 2.3.7, or the latest version of Gingerbread, or older? Then you can no longer log in to your Google account on your device from September 27. This is evident from a new help page from Google.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to provide users with a secure environment, Google has decided that users with devices running Android 2.3.7 will no longer be able to sign in from September 27,” the company said. If you try to log in after this date, you will get an error message with Google services such as Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps.
Some services will still be usable in the browser of your device, but which services are involved is as yet unknown. All devices with Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) will therefore have no problems with the discontinuation of support for older versions. If you want your older androiddevice can update to that version, then that is recommended.
Smartphone Update Policy Compared
Jelly Bean
Meanwhile, Android 3.0 and Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) are also starting to age quickly. Since August, devices with Jelly Bean are no longer provided with Play Services APK updates, which in practice means that certain apps no longer receive updates.
It is also unlikely that many Android users will be affected by Google’s decision to reduce support for older devices. Android 2.3.7 was launched almost ten years ago, while Jelly Bean appeared nine years ago. According to Google, only a very small percentage of users still use Jelly Bean. It would be less than one percent of all active Android smartphones. This percentage will probably be even lower with older devices.
Android 11 has been out for a while now and work is underway on a successor.
Breathing new life into old phone
If you don’t want to get rid of your old phone, there are still plenty of fun things you can do with an old Samsung Galaxy or HTC Tattoo, for example. Because although many functionalities of your old device will disappear with the discontinuation of support for older devices, the basic functions of outdated operating systems will still work. For example, use your smartphone as a digital alarm clock, remote control or painting. In this article we give 11 tips for your old smartphone.
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