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MILLIONS of phones will no longer be able to use Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail in a massive update TODAY.
The search giant has confirmed that some Android devices will lose access to popular apps.
Unless users update their phones or quickly buy a new mobile, millions of people around the world will no longer be able to access the software today.
Google announced the deadline in a short article on its website.
The tech titan said it plans to block users from signing in with their Google accounts on devices running Android 2.3.
The aging version of Google’s operating system was released in December 2010.
Google said it was withdrawing support for the platform “as part of our ongoing efforts to keep our users safe.”
The California search giant regularly drops support for aging versions of Android software as it releases new ones.
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This is because older versions of operating systems are much more vulnerable to bugs and hackers.
The latest version of Android is Android 11, so 2.3 miles behind the software running on most Android smartphones today.
In February 2017, Google suspended contactless payments from Google Pay on phones running Android 2.3.
Today, anyone using a device running the software will find that they cannot sign in to their Google account.
They will receive a username and password error even though they have logged in the correct credentials.
Trying to add a Google Calendar or Gmail account to the device settings menu will result in the same error.
Other popular Google apps will also stop working, including YouTube, Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Calendar, etc.
To continue using these apps, you need to upgrade your smartphone to Android 3.0.
AGING APPLICATIONS
You can do this by heading to your device’s settings and tapping System> Advanced> System update.
However, since not all devices running Android 2.3 will be able to upgrade to the next version, some users will be locked out permanently.
Smartphones that get stuck with Android 2.3 include Sony Xperia Advance, Lenovo K800, Sony Xperia Go, Vodafone Smart II, Samsung Galaxy S2, Sony Xperia P, LG Spectrum, Sony Xperia S, LG Prada 3.0, HTC Velocity, HTC Evo 4G, Motorola Fire and Motorola XT532.
If you are unable to upgrade your device, you can still work around the problem by signing in to services like YouTube through your browser.
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