Google Play plans to hide and prevent downloads for obsolete apps

Google currently requires new apps and app upgrades to target an Android API level within one year of the previous major Android OS version release, thus this should not be a substantial change for any active Android developers. Any app updates that do not match this criterion will likewise be rejected from Google Play.
SIA Team
April 10, 2022

Google currently requires new apps and app upgrades to target an Android API level within one year of the previous major Android OS version release, thus this should not be a substantial change for any active Android developers. Any app updates that do not match this criterion will likewise be rejected from Google Play.

Google is getting ready to purge old apps from its Play Store if developers don’t keep up with the latest Android OS versions, the company warned them that starting November 1, 2022, their apps will be hidden and blocked from being installed on customers’ devices. Apps that do not target an Android API within two years of the most recent major Android release version will no longer be discoverable or installable by new users whose devices run Android OS versions higher than the apps’ target API level, according to Google.

In other words, Android users who are using the most recent software or who have recently acquired new Android phones will no longer be able to find or download outdated, out-of-date apps.

However, the move will affect entirely abandoned apps or apps where the developer is still servicing users but has fallen behind on Android API upgrades.

Because the apps aren’t completely deleted from Google Play, this isn’t the same as Apple’s massive App Store purges in the past, which saw Apple remove tens of thousands of obsolete and abandoned apps. In fact, Google states that existing users of the older apps affected by the new policy will be able to find, re-install, and use them on any Android OS version that the app supports. This may be more consumer-friendly than Apple’s decision to remove apps from the app store.

According to Google, the purpose of the said plan is similar to Apple’s in that outdated apps not only provide a bad user experience, but also pose a security concern.

“Users using the most recent devices or those who are fully up to date on Android upgrades may expect to get the most out of all of Android’s privacy and security features. The business noted that “expanding our target level API requirements would prevent customers from installing older apps that may not have these protections in place.”