android: Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail no longer work on these Android smartphones – Times of India

Google is withdrawing support for Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps and several other applications from millions of smartphones using older versions of Android operating system. As a part of the company’s plans to protect accounts’ security, any device with Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread or lower won’t be able to sign in to Google products and services. Users need to have at least Android 3.0 installed in their smartphones to keep having access to these apps.
“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. 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.” Google community manager Zak Pollack shared.
“If your device has the ability to update to a newer Android version (3.0+), we advise you to do so in order to maintain access to Google apps and services on that device,” he added further.
Google regularly drops support for older versions of the operating system as it continues to release new ones. Devices with older versions of Android OS are more susceptible to bugs and hackers. To recall, the company suspended Google Pay contactless payments from working on any devices running Android 2.3.
Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread was released in September 2011 when the company used to use dessert names for major iterations of the operating system. If you have a device with Android Gingerbread that you can update you simply have to go into System> Advanced > System Update. Few of the popular smartphones that are stuck with Android 2.3 include Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia Advance, Sony Xperia Go, Lenovo K800, LG Spectrum, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola XT532 and Motorola Fire.