Google apps will stop running on millions of old Android devices soon

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Google Vice President of Product Management, Android & Google Play, Sameer Samat speaks during the keynote address at the annual Google I/O Developers Conference — Google says there are now over three billion Android devices in the wild (Credits: EPA)

In a support document, Google said it will stop allowing users to sign in to their Google accounts on phones running Android 2.3.7 (known as ‘Gingerbread’).

That means services that rely on Google accounts – like YouTube, Google Maps or Gmail – will no longer be accessible.

Gingerbread is an old version of Android. It initially came out in 2010 – so many people will have updated or upgraded since then.

But, given there are more than three billion Android devices (phones and tablets) active around the world, the change could still affect many people.

‘As part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe, Google will no longer allow sign-in on Android devices that run Android 2.3.7 or lower starting September 27, 2021,’ the company said.

‘If you sign into your device after September 27, you may get username or password errors when you try to use Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps.’

Following the September 27 deadline, users will likely still be able to access Google services through a browser. But signing in to individual apps won’t be possible.