Google Play Services has officially announced in a blog post that from the beginning of August 2023, it will discontinue support for Android KitKat in its upcoming releases. Android KitKat first made its debut in 2013 and will lose its support just before celebrating its 10th anniversary. For your information, ending support means that devices running on KitKat will no longer receive updates or assistance from Google Play Services.
Android KitKat Features
KitKat introduced various key features such as immersive full-screen mode, Hands-free Google Now with Full-screen widget, Native printer support, Subtitles and closed captioning support in the video player, Better dialer with quick dial and smarter caller ID, Emoji on the Google keyboard, and a Google Now page on the home screen.
However, after nearly a decade, Google has decided to prioritize support for more modern Android platforms that allow advanced features and security updates. This decision is driven by the realization that continuing to support KitKat in Play Services demands extra developer time without offering significant benefits to users.
According to Google’s official statement, less than 1% of active Android devices are still running on KitKat. With such a small user base, it becomes impractical to continue supporting this platform in Play Services.
For those of you who are interested, these are the names of desserts (used internally or publicly) that have been assigned to all the Android versions released up until now:
- Android 1.5: Cupcake
- Android 1.6: Donut
- Android 2.0: Éclair
- Android 2.2: Froyo
- Android 2.3: Gingerbread
- Android 3.0: Honeycomb
- Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich
- Android 4.1: Jelly Bean
- Android 4.4: KitKat
- Android 5.0: Lollipop
- Android 6.0: Marshmallow
- Android 7.0: Nougat
- Android 8.0: Oreo
- Android 9: Pie
- Android 10: Quince Tart
- Android 11: Red Velvet Cake
- Android 12: Snow Cone
- Android 13: Tiramisu
- Android 14: Upside Down Cake
Consequently, starting from version 23.30.99 in August, future Play Services releases will not be compatible with devices still operating on Android 4.4 (API levels 19 & 20) as the support for KitKat will be dropped.