Google withdrawing support for Gmail, youtube, Google Map and many other applications from millions of smartphones using older versions of Android Operating System. As part of the company’s plan to protect the security of accounts, any device running Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread or earlier will not be able to sign in to Google products and services. Users need to have at least Android 3.0 installed on their smartphones to maintain access to these apps.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe, Google will no longer allow sign-ins on Android devices that run Android 2.3.7 or lower as of September 27, 2021. If you If you sign in to your device after September, you may receive username or password errors when you try to use Google products and services such as Gmail, YouTube and Maps.” Google Community Manager Zak Pollack shared.
“If your device has the ability to update to a newer Android version (3.0+), we recommend that you do so to maintain access to Google apps and services on that device,” he adds.
Google regularly drops support for older versions of the operating system as it continues to release new ones. Devices with older versions of Android OS are more vulnerable to bugs and hackers. To recall, the company suspended Google Pay contactless payments from working on any device running Android 2.3.
Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread was released in September 2011 when the company used sweet names for major iterations of the operating system. If you have a device with Android Gingerbread that you can update to, all you have to do is go to System > Advanced > System Update. Some popular smartphones that are stuck with Android 2.3 include Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia Advance, Sony Xperia Go, Lenovo K800, LG Spectrum, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola XT532 and Motorola Fire.
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