Google has recently announced that it is ending support for signing into its app on Android devices running Android 2.3.7 or lower starting September 27, 2021, to help protect user’s account security.
In an email sent to users with active Android 2.3.7 and lower, the search giant wrote, “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.”
It further added, “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.”
The Android versions that are below 2.3.7 are:
- Android 1.0
- Android 1.1
- Android 1.5 Cupcake
- Android 1.6 Donut
- Android 2.0 Eclair
- Android 2.2 Froyo
- Android 2.3 Gingerbread
According to the company, this will only impact system and application-level sign-in, though web browsers will continue to work. Only users using Android versions 3.0 or newer will be able to sign into their accounts.
After September 27th, if you perform any of the following actions on devices that run Android 2.3.7 or lower, you will receive a username or password error if you try to sign in to your devices or to add an email or calendar account. The following cases can also lead to this error if you:
- Try to sign in to Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps
- Add or create a new Google Account
- Perform a factory reset and try to sign in
- Change your Google Account password, which signs you out on all devices, and try to sign in again
- Remove your account from the device and try to re-add it
In order to continue access to Google apps and services on Android devices below 2.3.7, Google advises users of such devices to update to a newer Android version (3.0 or newer) if the device has the ability to do so.
If you cannot update your device to a newer Android version (3.0+), you can still log into your Google account on your device’s web browser.
