Google announces end of support for Android 4.4 KitKat
Google announces end of support for Android 4.4 KitKat
Nearly 10 years after release: Google announces end of support for Android 4.4 KitKat
Google announced that after August 2023, the newly released Google Play Services will no longer support Android 4.4 KitKat.
KitKat, launched in October 2013, will lose support on the eve of its 10th anniversary. Google says that less than 1% of Android devices are still using KitKat today.
As a result, continuing to support this aging platform in Play Services requires an increase in developer time without significant benefit to users.
Play Services allows Google to provide new features and regular updates to apps and services on Android devices in addition to operating system updates.
Play Services released after August 23.30.99 will no longer work on devices still running Android 4.4 due to dropping support for KitKat.
Google noted in a new blog post:
The Android KitKat (KK) platform was first released 10 years ago, and since then we’ve introduced many innovative improvements and features to Android that weren’t available on the KK platform.
As more and more users update to the latest Android version, the number of active devices on KK has fallen below 1% as of July 2023. Therefore, we will no longer support KK in a future release of Google Play Services. KK devices will receive version 23.30.99 of the Play Services APK.
The last time Google ended support for older versions of Android was in 2021, when it supported Jelly Bean, which launched in 2012. Like KitKat, Jelly Bean dropped below 1% of active devices before it was discontinued.
KitKat is a major release of the Android system that introduces key features such as an immersive full-screen mode, Cloud Print integration, and a “Google Now” page on the home screen.
However, after nearly 10 years of development, Google has prioritized supporting the more advanced Android platform in order to provide more advanced features and security updates.
Users still using KitKat-based devices may consider upgrading to a newer Android phone or custom ROM to ensure continued access to the latest Google apps and services.
Over time, Google Play Services no longer supports the legacy KitKat platform, so apps may no longer support KitKat.
