14 DAY TRIAL // Google has officially announced that its super-old Android versions would no longer be allowed to sign in to services like Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps for obvious reasons.
According to an official announcement published recently, the change concerns Android 2.3.7 or lower, and all these devices would no longer be able to log in beginning late September.
Google says that whoever still uses such a device and tries to access a Google account in Gmail, YouTube, or Maps would receive a username and password error.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe, Google will no longer allow sign-in on Android devices that run Android 2.3.7 or lower starting September 27, 2021. If you sign into your device after September 27, you may get username or password errors when you try to use Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps,” the company explains.
Just upgrade already
So what’s next? While only a few people are likely to be impacted by this change given Android 2.3.7 is already an ancient operating system, everyone still running it would have to upgrade to at least Android 3.0 to be able to access Google services.
For what it’s worth, Android 2.37 was released no less than 10 years ago, and it’s believed it holds only a tiny share in the overall Android market.
“You will be able to sign into your account with a newer Android version (3.0 or newer). If your device has the ability to update to a newer Android version (3.0+), we advise you to do so. If you cannot update your device to a newer Android version (3.0+), you can try to log into your Google account on your device’s web browser. You can still use some Google services when logged into Google on your device’s web browser,” Google explains.