Google has made the announcement that it will soon stop supporting some older Android versions for Google Calendar and Chrome apps. On the other hand, upgrades to apps and features for previous Android versions are frequently released; technology must eventually advance. Security concerns are most likely the reason behind the removal of support for older Android versions. Google wants to ensure that its users are safe, as data hacking has become more frequent with older versions of Android.
Chrome will thus no longer support Android Nougat for versions around 7.1 and lower. A notification encouraging users to update their operating system in order to keep using Chrome will be sent to those using these older Android versions. The news affected Chrome on Android as well as Chrome on PC. Therefore, Chrome 120 does not support Android Nougat or any other operating system version.
Now that millions of people use Google Calendar, which helps organize their daily plans, the company has chosen to apply the same idea to this popular software. Notably, an outdated Android version might mean that the manufacturer has discontinued support for updated versions. Users are faced with the decision in this case that comes under two options: either purchase a new device that comes with improved security features or Otherwise, they need to look at other choices, like installing custom software like LineageOS.
Just 3% of smartphones were running Android 7.1 as of June 2023, and the devices running earlier versions made up less than 5% of the total. The latest version of Chrome for Android that is supported for smartphones running Android 7.1 and below is version 119, as of late November. Android 8.0, which is now at version 2023-46-0-5817-92699 and hasn’t been released widely yet, is also the minimum version required for Google Calendar on Android devices.
