14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft Office will no longer support older versions of Android as part of a silent Microsoft change that will put the focus on the latest releases.
Specifically, Microsoft says its productivity suite would only run on the four latest versions of Android, which means that your device must be on Android Marshmallow or newer.
Android KitKat and Lollipop will thus be abandoned, as Microsoft needs the improvements in the latest Android versions in order to provide users with more advanced capabilities in the productivity suite.
In a support document, the software giant explains that the change will come into effect on July 1, which means that users have less than a month to upgrade their devices, if possible, to continue receiving updates for the Android version of Microsoft Office.
“Android: Office for Android can be installed on tablets and phones running any of the supported versions of Android and have an ARM-based or Intel x86 processor. Starting on July 1, 2019, support will be limited to only the last 4 major versions of Android,” Microsoft says.
“Product functionality and feature availability may vary on older systems. For the best experience, use the latest version of any operating system specified above.”
Support for other operating systems
As far as iOS is concerned, which is the main alternative to Android, Microsoft Office requires iOS 11 or later, as the productivity suite only supports the two most recent iOS releases.
“When a new version of iOS is released, Office’s Operating System requirement becomes the then-current two most recent versions: the new version of iOS and the previous version,” Microsoft says.
Redmond doesn’t say anything about support for Windows 10 Mobile, but with the platform altogether going dark in December, the productivity suite is expected to be retired on Microsoft’s own mobile operating system anytime soon.