MILLIONS of phones are today permanently losing access to Google’s most popular services.
Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail and other apps will all be shut down on handsets using an older version of the Android operating system.
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Which Android phones will be blocked from Google apps?
Google announced the app shut down in a short post on its website.
The tech titan said it plans to block users from signing in with their Google Account on devices using Android 2.3.
The ageing version of Google’s operating system launched in December 2010.
The ban comes into effect on September 27.
Unless users update their phones, they’ll be locked out of the software on that mobile for good.
The trouble is, some old mobiles cannot update to anything more recent than Android 2.3.
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Smartphones that remain stuck with Android 2.3 include Sony Xperia Advance, Lenovo K800, Sony Xperia Go, Vodafone Smart II, Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia P, LG Spectrum, Sony Xperia S, LG Prada 3.0, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Fire, and Motorola XT532.
To check if your Android device will be affected, go to your gadget’s settings app. Type System Advanced > System Update.
Check your “Android Version”. If it’s above Android 2.3, then you’re safe.
Chances are, your device will not be affected by the block – unless you’ve been neglecting Android’s software updates for a decade or so.
Most people have their mobile set to automatically download updates as they’re released, meaning you’re more likely than not to be using a newer version of Android.
Google app shutdown explained
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Google said it’s withdrawing support for the platform “as part of our going efforts to keep our users safe”.
The California search giant regularly drops support for ageing versions of the Android software as it releases new ones.
That’s because older versions of operating systems are far more vulnerable to bugs and hackers.
The latest version of Android is Android 11, so 2.3 is miles behind the software running on most Android smartphones today.
In February 2017, Google suspended Google Pay contactless payments from working on handsets running Android 2.3.
From September 27, anyone using a device running the software will find that they’re unable to log in to their Google account.
They’ll receive a username and password error, even if they’ve plugged in the correct credentials.
Trying to add a Google Calendar or Gmail account to the settings menu of the device will result in the same error.
Other popular Google apps will also stop working, including YouTube, Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar, and more.
To continue using these apps, you’ll need to upgrade your smartphone to Android 3.0 or later.
If you’re unable to upgrade your device, you can always work around the issue by logging into services like YouTube via your browser.
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