Youtube and Gmail are severely restricted on older phones

Youtube and Gmail are severely restricted on older phones

Google has announced that older smartphones will no longer be able to access all apps from September 27th. The services Gmail, Youtube and Maps are affected, among others.

Google is blocking devices with outdated system versions: For example, users who are still using a mobile phone or tablet with Android version 2.3.7 will soon no longer be able to log into Google services with the device. Without a login, certain services can no longer be used, such as Gmail, Google’s mail program. Other apps like Youtube only lose functionality without logging in.

The registration of older devices will be blocked from September 27th. If the password of the account is changed or the device is reset to the factory settings, you can no longer log in either. Users who try to log in with their outdated device after the deadline has expired will receive error messages, Google explains in a support document. The IT group justifies the blocking of older devices with security concerns.

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Three billion devices

It is unclear how many users this affects. The Android version 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) is more than ten years old. The market share of the version is no longer recorded in Google statistics. With more than three billion active Android devices, however, one can assume that this announced change will likely affect more than a few people, as some are sticking to the old technology, writes Theverge.com.

So what do you have to do if you are still using Android 2.3.7? Is it possible to update the device, should this be done first? From Android 3 (Honeycomb) there are no restrictions. Users can continue to use these devices as usual after September 2021, explains Google. If this is not possible on the device, you can log into Google services via the browser and continue to use them on unsupported devices, explains Bleepingcomputer.com.

The IT giant Google announced version 12 of its Android system in spring 2021. This is expected to be available to users from autumn. The major innovations in the system include a completely redesigned user interface, better performance and improved data protection options.

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