Google released Android 4.4, also known as Android KitKat, a decade ago. Play services appears to be ready to bid farewell to this older operating system to commemorate its tenth anniversary.
Google’s Android versions
Recent reports revealed the distribution of Android versions on devices, with surprising results. As of May 2023, Android 11 (codenamed Red Velvet Cake) was the most widely adopted release. Surprisingly, around 15 million devices were still running Android 4.4.
Despite this, Android KitKat held only about 0.5% of the global market. This small percentage appears to have prompted finally discontinue support for the aging version.
Google announced on the Android Developers Blog that KitKat will no longer be supported in future releases of Play services.
The reason given was a drop in KitKat active device count, which has dropped below 1% as more users upgrade to the latest Android versions.
As of July 2023, the active device count on KitKat is less than 1%, prompting the decision to discontinue support. KitKat devices will not receive any versions of the Play Services APK after 23.30.99.
If you own a device that is still running KitKat, you still have some time. Google Play services for KitKat will be phased out beginning in August 2023.
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