In a few days from now, Google will shutout millions of users out of their Gmail, Maps, and YouTube accounts. Google has confirmed that millions of Android users could lose access to their accounts. From Monday, anyone using those apps on Android version 2.3 will be blocked.
It has been 11 years since that version of Android became available. Google said its decision if for the security and safety of its users. Per The Sun, Google said “as part of our going efforts to keep our users safe.”
Google often withdraws support for ageing versions of its Android OS as new ones make their entry. The reason for this is because older versions are vulnerable to bugs and attacks.
From Monday, users of those Google apps trying to log in will receive an error message. It does not matter whether they have entered the correct credentials. This will apply to YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Calendar, and more—all Google apps.
The latest Android version in the market is version 11; but those using Android 2.3 may not need to get the latest version to regain access. All they need to do is to update to version 3.0.
Quick Fix
The only quick fix to this is to update to version 3.0 of the Android OS. To do this, head to your phone Settings > Advanced > System Update.
Not every user will be lucky though; with some unable to make the leap to version 3.0. That said, you can still access YouTube and maybe Gmail through your phone browser.
Android 2.3.7 was the final version of Gingerbread released nearly 10 years ago. Considering how long this has been, it is possible that the restriction may not affect too many users. However, given that some users love to keep hold of their old phones, Google’s latest policy may have some victims.
Given the number of security and privacy issues we have been getting online lately, it is easy to align with Google’s latest policy. Older Android devices no longer receive periodic security updates like the latest ones. This makes them vulnerable to privacy invaders–which makes Google’s decision easy to understand.
This may not have anything to do with forcing users to upgrade to the latest versions–my take is that it is a pure security measure.
In the meantime, and just like I did say earlier, there is enough time to get things sorted out before the cutoff time set by Google.
