Goodbye Android KitKat: Google Play Services is ending support for Android 4.4

A decade is an eternity in technology and it looks like Google is ready to retire the old operating system to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Yes it’s true. It’s been 10 years since Google rolled out Android 4.4, better known as Android KitKat. Now it’s time to say goodbye to Android KitKat, as the Google Play services have ended support for Android 4.4.

Last month, a report revealed the percentage of devices running a particular version of Android. The report further revealed that Android 11 (codenamed Red Velvet Cake) is the most available version of Android as of May 2023. The report also highlighted that supposedly 15 million devices are still running Android 4.4.

Goodbye Android KitKat: Google Play Services is ending support for Android 4.4

However, compared to the rest of the available versions, Android KitKat accounted for only about 0.5% of the global share. That percentage seems low enough for Google to finally start working on it.

In a quick post on the Android Developers Blog, Google announced that it will no longer support KitKat in future releases of Google Play Services. The tech giant highlights the fact that the number of active devices on KitKat has fallen below 1% as a reason to move forward.

As of July 2023, the number of active devices on KK is below 1% as more and more users update to the latest Android versions. Therefore, we will no longer support KK in future releases of Google Play Services. KK devices will not receive versions of the Play Services APK after 23.30.99.

If you have one of the devices still on KatKit, you still have some time left. According to Google, Google Play services on KitKat will be discontinued from August 2023.

See also: ChatGPT for Android: Now available on the Google Play Store for pre-registration