Old smartphones without Google Play will become harder to use

Using an old smartphone will become significantly harder once it loses support for the Google Play store. This is reported by BGR.

According to BGR journalists, many new smartphones receive Android updates for up to seven years. They noted that even after a phone loses support, it can still be used. However, they called the moment when a device loses Google Play support a more important milestone in the life of every device.

The authors explained that Google periodically raises requirements for devices. Currently, to use the Google Play app store, a smartphone must run Android 7 Nougat or a newer version of the operating system (OS). Thus, gadgets with Android 6 Marshmallow cannot download apps from the official source — when disconnected from Google Play, the phone becomes harder to use.

Despite the fact that the share of devices running Android 6 Marshmallow is extremely small, they can still download apps from alternative sources. However, the authors emphasized that using Google services after the device is disconnected from Google Play will be impossible.