Google Deals Out ‘Tough Love’ as It Ends Security Updates for a Billion Android Users

Google’s announcement that it will not provide security updates for older versions of its Android mobile operating system means that more than a billion users face growing security risks to their phones or tablets.
Google Deals Out ‘Tough Love’ as It Ends Security Updates for a Billion Android Users
The eagerly anticipated Android 5.1 Lollipop update will be first rolled out for the Spice Dream Uno and Spice Dream Uno H smartphones in India, according to a reports. Bersam/Google, CC BY
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Google’s announcement that it will not provide security updates for older versions of its Android mobile operating system means that more than a billion users face growing security risks to their phones or tablets.

While Android phones and tablets have grown exponentially in popularity, from 4% market share in 2009 to 84% in 2014, by abandoning support for versions prior to Android 4.4 “Kit Kat” Google’s decision affects more than 60% of Android users running older versions that will now be vulnerable.

At the heart of this announcement is a piece of software called WebView, a component of the built-in web browser in earlier versions of Android, but which also turns up in many apps. It is WebView that Google is dropping support for, replaced in version 4.4 with a new component taken from Google’s browser, Chrome.

Android's long tail - many users still run older versions. (Erikrespo/Google data, CC BY-SA)
Android's long tail - many users still run older versions. Erikrespo/Google data, CC BY-SA
Aleksej Heinze
Aleksej Heinze
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