Android 2.3 Gingerbread was released by Google way back in 2010. By December 2011, around 50 percent of the devices ran on Gingerbread. Earlier this year, Google revealed some data which showed that Android Gingerbread ran on roughly 2.2 percent of the devices. Now, the number has further plunged to 1.3 percent. Finally, the Android maker has decided to pull the plug on the Google Play services support for Gingerbread by the first quarter of 2017.
Farewell, Android Gingerbread!
It will not be wrong to assume that Google Play Services 10.0.0 is probably the last one to support Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The next update of these libraries, that is version 10.2.0, will require minimum API level from 9 to 14 (Android 4.0.1, Ice Cream Sandwich which is popularly known as ICS). Google said in a blogpost, “This change will happen in early 2017.”
After this move, developers can start targeting API 14 as the minimum, and no longer will have to roll out updates for the six year old OS version. Yes, Gingerbread is a six year old veteran, and many developers have already stopped providing support for this version of OS in their apps.
“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,” Google added in the blogpost.
More about Android Gingerbread
There is a very slight chance that you still might be using a phone that runs on this otherwise obsolete OS. The influx of Chinese manufacturers which stormed the market with many really reasonably priced phones made sure that most of the people got rid of their old smartphones.
This ensured that people can get their hands on the newer and obviously much more advanced phones with the latest OS versions like Android 6.0 Marshmallow or Android 7.0 Nougat. Despite the fact that Android Gingerbread was obsolete, it was still a veteran. It is that version of Android which helped Android making a name for itself. How do you feel now that you know it will be put down shortly? Tell us in the comments below. Stay tuned for more updates.
