Last updated: November 1st, 2023 at 23:30 UTC+01:00
For Android apps, dropping support for older versions of the operating system is a necessary evil for a few reasons, including freeing up resources and manpower so developers can focus their efforts on new features and newer versions of Android.
Recently, WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, ended support for people running Android versions older than Android 5.1, and now, the most popular mobile browser is doing something similar.
Google has revealed that the next major update for Chrome will only be available on devices running Android 8.0 Oreo or newer. There aren’t a lot of people who are using devices that are still running Android Nougat or any version older than that, but for those who do, it’s the end of the road. Naturally, that will affect Galaxy smartphone and tablet users as well.
Google hasn’t directly provided an exact date, but December 6 would be a safe bet as that’s the day the next big Chrome update hits mobile devices and Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. Just to be clear, Chrome will not stop working for the older versions of Android after support ends – they will simply stop getting updates.
Chrome will basically be catching up to Samsung Internet, another popular browser app for Android phones (it’s one of the few Samsung apps that doesn’t require a Galaxy phone or tablet) that requires Android 8.0 Oreo and above. In fact, almost none of the well-known browsers support Android versions before Oreo. Opera even requires Android 12, which was released just two years back.
