Google Ends Support for Calendar and Chrome on Older Android Phones

Google is set to discontinue support for its “Calendar” service and “Chrome” web browser on smartphones running Android 7.1 or earlier versions.

In an official statement, the company revealed that Chrome version 120 will only be compatible with Android phones running version 8 or later.

Google emphasized that version 119 of Chrome represents the final edition that will function on older phones. Starting early next year, these devices will no longer receive any software or security updates from Google.

Reports from “SpAndroid” indicate that the Calendar app has started issuing alerts to a limited group of users, urging them to update their operating systems to maintain access to the application after receiving version 2023-46-0-581792699 on their outdated devices.

While Google introduced “Android 14” this year, the prevailing version on phones with this operating system remains “Android 11.”

Google’s decision to discontinue support for older phones aims to encourage users to adopt more advanced features in its services. This move also enables developers to concentrate on introducing new functionalities rather than continually addressing issues stemming from the limitations and outdated nature of earlier operating system versions.

Recent statistics reveal that Android 7.1 holds a mere 3% share among phones using the Android system, with the combined share of older versions amounting to just 5%, as of June last year, out of a total of 3.6 billion phones globally employing this operating system.