Home › News ›

Google Play Services to Drop Support for Gingerbread

Nov 21, 2016, 4:01 PM by Eric M. Zeman
updated Nov 21, 2016, 4:09 PM

Google today said the next iteration of Google Play Services will sever backward compatibility with devices running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Today, Google Play Services — the core code behind app compatibility across Android platforms — is 10.0.0 and supports API level 9. The move to Google Play Services 10.2.0, expected in early 2017, will jump from API level 9 to API level 14. This means Play Services 10.2.0 will support Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich and up, leaving Android 2.3 Gingerbread devices behind. "The Gingerbread platform is almost six years old. Many Android developers have already discontinued support for Gingerbread in their apps," explained Google in a blog post. "This helps them build better apps that make use of the newer capabilities of the Android platform. For us, the situation is the same. By making this change, we will be able to provide a more robust collection of tools for Android developers with greater speed." At last check, only 1.3% of all devices accessing the Google Play Store were still running Gingerbread. The majority of devices are running Android 4.4 KitKat (25.2%), Android 5.x Lollipop (34.1%), or Android 6.x Marshmallow (24%). The change in API level support will not impact that many devices. Google says developers can either move forward and target API level 14 at a minimum, or offer multiple APKs via the Play Store to support both older and newer devices. This latter method will not include support for newer APIs, however, and may occasionally lead to broken or non-functioning apps. Google Play Services is updated automatically across Android devices once every couple of months.

Related

iPhone 14 Plus Offers a Big Screen For Less

Sep 7, 2022
Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 series, with new features, improved specs, and new size options. In place of a Mini option, the iPhone 14 will come in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen size options as the Pro models.

Android 12 Sports New, Customizable Look

May 18, 2021
Google today took the wraps off the new consumer-facing features of Android 12. The most obvious is " Material You ", a new iteration of Google's Material Design.

iOS 16 Revamps the Lock Screen

Jun 6, 2022
Apple today announced iOS 16, the next version of its core software for iPhones. The new OS features a major revamp of the Lock Screen with new personalization, including font & color options, and widgets that are similar to complications on the Apple Watch.

Qualcomm Intros Snapdragon Chips for 2023's Mid-Range & Affordable 5G Phones

Sep 6, 2022
Qualcomm has just announced the two chips that will power a great number of entry-level and mid-range Android phones in 2023: the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. Both chips integrate a 5G modem and include upgraded performance as well as new features compared to the chips they replace.

Arm Details Next-Gen v9 Processor Core Designs

May 25, 2021
Arm today announced details of its v9 processor core designs, which scale from smartwatches to laptops and compose what Arm calls its "Total Compute Solution". The suite of designs includes several new Cortex CPU cores, several new Mali GPU (graphics) cores, and a new interconnect design to link the cores that's 15% more efficient than before.

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

thebriang

Nov 21, 2016, 8:09 PM

Its about time...

Nearly no apps will run on GB currently anyway, so if your stuck with an old device, you've been hating it for a couple of years now.

Or if you have an unlocked device that isn't on the default carrier, like an older ATT device on an MVNO. Sure there may BE an update, you just cant Get it.

Page 1 of 1