If your phone is one of the few devices running on the Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.x OS, we have some bad news. Google is ceasing official Google Play support for the old OS, rendering users incapable of updating apps downloaded from the store.
First launched in 2011, Ice Cream Sandwich now makes up 1% of the total Android user base. The seven year-old operating system will not see any Google Play updates after version 14.7.99 for the app.
While 1% may not sound like much, it’s important to remember that that’s still 20 million out of the 2 billion Android devices (in 2017) still running on what is already an old and archaic version of the Android OS.
Google is advising developers to update their apps to at least API level 16 as the number of devices using API Level 14 and 15 (which Ice Cream Sandwich supports) is minimal. On the other hand, Google has posted the possibility of publishing multiple APKs to support the older devices. However this could potentially burden developers with more work in writing updates for their apps.
With this announcement, we think that it’s the right time for older device owners to consider upgrading to new devices. With new models coming out almost every month, the sky is the limit choosing a device that will replace your trusty old Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
(Source: Google via PhoneArena)
Edited by John Law
