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Google set to limit the discoverability of outdated apps on the Play Store

Google is limiting the reach of older apps on the Play Store. (Source: Google)
Google is limiting the reach of older apps on the Play Store. (Source: Google)
Google will limit the ability of some users to search and install older apps with outdated API versions from the Google Play Store. The change will take effect after November 1st. Current users of the targeted apps won't be affected by the change.

Google has announced in a blog post that apps already published to the Play Store will need to be updated to support API levels no more than two years older than the current Android OS release level by November 1st. After the deadline, some users won’t be able to find and install apps that are still using the old APIs from the Play Store.

Google says that this policy change is meant to ensure that apps are using the full set of security and privacy features offered by Android. New apps and updates that are published on the Play Store already have to use APIs that fall within 1 year of the current Android OS revision.

The limited availability of apps with outdated APIs will only affect new users who’ve never installed the apps before and are running an Android OS version newer than the targeted API levels. Users who are running older versions of Android or have already installed such apps will be able to uninstall, search, and re-install the apps from the Google Play Store.

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API level requirements for old apps. (Source: Google)
API level requirements for old apps. (Source: Google)
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 04 > Google set to limit the discoverability of outdated apps on the Play Store
Fawad Murtaza, 2022-04- 9 (Update: 2022-04- 9)