These Android smartphones will lose Chrome and Calendar!

Older versions of Android continue to receive application and even feature updates for years. However eventually, things have to come to an end. Soon, Google will stop supporting two very important applications, namely Calendar and Chrome on older Android smartphones.

These Android smartphones will lose Chrome and Calendar!

O Android 14 is the current version of Android. However as has been the case for some time now, the version installed on most active devices is a bit behind. Currently, the most installed version of Android is Android 11.

Over time, Google ends up no longer supporting older versions of the platform in its main applications. This will happen soon with Google Chrome and beyond.

So soon the default browser on most Android smartphones will increase its minimum operating system requirement to Android 8.0. This is with the launch of Chrome 120 in early 2024. Google confirmed the removal on a support page earlier this month.

The latest version of Chrome to support Android Nougat is Chrome 119, and it includes a message for affected users informing them that they should update their operating system.

Therefore, Chrome 120 will not be supported or shipped to users with Android Nougat.

As of the end of November, the current version of Chrome for Android is version 119, which means we are currently on the last supported version for devices running Android 7.1 and older.

Google Calendar also ends

Likewise, the TheSpAndroid discovered evidence in newer versions of Google Calendar for Android that shows a new in-app message will appear for users on older versions of Android. On devices running Android 7.1 Nougat and below, the message will say:

Your current version of Android is no longer supported. Update your operating system to continue using Google Calendar.

The minimum version of Google Calendar for Android is also now Android 8.0, starting with version 2023-46-0-581792699, which has not yet been widely rolled out.

Unfortunately, in both cases, having an outdated version of Android just means that there is no newer version available, as the manufacturer no longer provides it. In other words, this would require users to either buy a new device, which is probably a good idea anyway from a security perspective, or take more drastic measures with custom software builds like LineageOS.

Regardless, this shouldn’t affect the vast majority of Android users. As of June 2023, Android 7.1 represents just 3% of active devices, with older versions accumulating less than 5% more.