The US-based tech giant is stopping support for some google products like: Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail and other apps from many Android devices later this month.
This simply means that so many phones won’t have access to some software unless the phones are updated or the phones are completely replaced.
Google announced it plans to block users from signing in with their Google Account on devices using Android 2.3 from September 27 2021. Android 2.3 (Google’s operating system was launched in December 2010.)
Google said it’s withdrawing support for the platform “as part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe” as it regularly drops support for ageing versions of the Android software as it releases new ones. This is because older versions of operating systems are far more vulnerable to bugs and hackers.
The latest version of Android is Android 11, so 2.3 is miles behind the software running on most Android smartphones today.
In February 2017, Google suspended Google Pay contactless payments from working on handsets running Android 2.3.
Later this month, anyone using a device running on Android 2.3 will find that they’re unable to log in to their Google account.
They’ll receive a username and password error, even if they’ve plugged in the correct credentials.
Trying to add a Google Calendar or Gmail account to the settings menu of the device will result in the same error.
Other popular Google apps will also stop working, including YouTube, Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar, and more.
To continue using these apps, you’ll need to upgrade your smartphone to Android 3.0.
Go to your device settings and tap System > Advanced > System Update.
Note that not all devices running on 2.3 can upgrade to 3.0. such phones are certainly gone for good.
Smartphones that remain stuck with Android 2.3 include Sony Xperia Advance, Lenovo K800, Sony Xperia Go, Vodafone Smart II, Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia P, LG Spectrum, Sony Xperia S, LG Prada 3.0, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Fire, and Motorola XT532.
Well, If you’re unable to upgrade your device, you can always work around the issue by logging into services like YouTube via your browser.
