Google has announced the end of support for its browser on smartphones prior to Android 8.0. They will soon no longer receive a Chrome update. The Mountain View firm has not yet given a precise date for the end of support, but it is likely that it will take place at the beginning of December.
It’s the cycle of life (more or less): manufacturers and other developers regularly end support for their application for older smartphones. Recently, for example, WhatsApp announced that smartphones older than Android 5.0 will no longer receive an update. Google Chrome, for its part, goes a little further.
In a recent blog post, the firm announced that Chrome will no longer update on smartphones running a version prior to Android 8.0. In other words, and as always with this type of announcement, the measure only retains a tiny part of the users. Indeed, based on the latest Android deployment figures provided by Google, only 5% of users are still on a version prior to Oreo.
Google Chrome will no longer receive updates on old Android smartphones
Of course, if you are one of the latter, remember that this does not mean that your browser will suddenly stop working. Concretely, nothing will change for you – and that’s the problem: without a security update, your smartphone will be much more vulnerable to hacker attacks, thus compromising your personal data and, in the worst case, your bank account. That being said, simply using a smartphone with a 7 year old OS is a risk in itself.
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Note that Google has not provided a specific date for the end of support for its browser on old Android smartphones. However, speculation revolves around December 6, for the simple reason that this is the date of deployment of the next update on all compatible devices.
Source: Google