Google announced that devices running Android 2.3.7 or lower will no longer be able to sign into Google apps, starting September 27, 2021.
The company says, “You may get username or password errors when you try to use Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps.”
If you don’t know, Android 2.3.7 (a.k.a Gingerbread) was released almost ten years ago. And given that there are currently over 3 billion active Android devices in existence, this new change will most likely affect a small percentage of Android smartphone users who are still stock with older technologies.
Google has advised users on Android 2.3.7 to upgrade to either Android 3.0 or Android 4.0, before the September 27th deadline. This is to avoid any issues and hassles with Gmail or Google Maps, though the Company says they will be able to still sign in from the web.
Android fragmentation has long been considered one of its biggest problems, but in some ways it is also a strong point. Although most Android devices today have been running a version of the operating system for at least 2-3 years, there are still versions that can continue to work with older versions. They can’t last forever, of course, and Google seems to be slowly turning them off, especially on the oldest versions of Android.
Google seems to be slowly shutting down older Android devices by blocking access to their servers. Earlier last month, it was announced that phones running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and earlier could lose access to Google Play services. It’s a little surprising that there are still quite a few devices out there with this nearly outdated version of Android, but for your safety and convenience, you might need to update to the latest version if you haven’t already.
