Google Play Store will soon block you from downloading old apps

Most of the millions of Android apps in the Google Play Store work great on newer phones and tablets, even if they were developed for older Android versions. However, some have not been updated for a long timecan potentially create security problems. It can also be old apps not complying with the latest Google requirements in terms of privacy.

Google plans to consider all these applications to protect its users against applications that may be full of security vulnerabilities. As Apple already does on iOS Google announced that it will take similar measures in the Play Store by eliminating applications that do not meet the latest standards.

Also read: Play Store – Malware-infected apps installed on 300,000 Android smartphones

Apps that haven’t been updated for a long time will be hidden

In a blog post from November 1, 2022, Google announced: existing applications not targeting an API level in the previous two years The latest major version of Android cannot be found or installed by new users of devices running Android OS versions higher than the API level the apps are targeting.

Google also explains that as new versions of the Android operating system are released in the future, the requirement window will adapt accordingly. Each new level of the API corresponds to a new update from Google.for example, there was API level 30 for Android 11 and level 29 for Android 10. The latest Android 12.1 (L) and Android 12 versions have API numbers 32 and 31 respectively.

In other words, an app has not been updated to an Android version older than 2 years compared to your device, the application may disappear from the Google Play Store and therefore users cannot download the application. In order to increase security on Android, Google recently announced that it will automatically remove permissions from applications that you have not used for a while.