These old phones will soon no longer have access to Gmail, Maps and other Google apps

Are you still using an Android phone with an old Android version? Then you will soon lose access to various Google apps and services. You can read in this article which Android versions are involved and which problems arise.

Old Android versions

Google has indicated that people with a device running on Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) or lower will no longer be able to log in to their Google account from September 27, 2021. These people can run into problems trying to sign in to Google products and services such as Gmail, YouTube, and Maps. Google is ending support for the Android versions for security reasons.

These are the Android versions that matter

Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread was launched in September of 2011, so it is almost 10 years old. The following Android versions are no longer supported:

1. Android 1.0
2. Android 1.1
3. Android 1.5 Cupcake
4. Android 1.6 Donut
5. Android 2.0 Eclair
6. Android 2.2 Froyo
7. Android 2.3 Gingerbread

These are the consequences

Google also indicates when the error messages for these older devices will be seen when logging in.

1. Once you try to sign in to Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube and Maps.
2. Once you do a factory reset on the device and try to login.
3. As soon as you change your password on the device or on another device, then log out from anywhere. When you try to log in again, you will receive the error message.
4. Once you remove your account from the device and add it again.
5. Once you create an account on the device.

What to do in case of error messages

Google recommends upgrading these devices to Android 3.0 Honeycomb or higher if possible. Is this not possible? Then you can try logging into your Google account in the browser on the older device. You can still use some Google services in the browser.

Google also announced a few weeks ago that some very old phones and tablets will no longer receive new Play Services updates in the future. Google Play Services is a very important app on Android phones that makes other apps work well.