Android is an open operating system, but Google can exercise a great deal of control over the ecosystem and its apps via the Google Play Store. It has now been announced that the thumbscrews will soon be tightened and current apps will be preferred. This will go so far that many users will no longer be able to find older apps in the Play Store. Even the installation should be blocked.
The Google Play Store is bursting at the seams with well over two million apps and there is a wide range of applications for practically every more or less useful purpose. But the selection could soon be significantly reduced because Google wants to pull the plug on older apps and hide and block them after a surprisingly short period of time. This has now been announced as part of an action to increase security.
Apps must set semi-current API target
Android apps have both a minimum version and a target version that developers must specify. This affects both the Play Store listing and the available APIs. Beginning November 1, apps must specify at least a Target version that is no older than two generations. So if Android 13 is available in November, the apps will have to target at least Android 11.
If you don’t do this, the Google Play Store will interfere and will no longer display the app for all new users and will no longer allow installation even if a direct link is used. It’s almost a complete sales blockade for new users. New means that the users had not previously installed the app.
Starting on November 1, 2022, existing apps that don’t target an API level within two years of the latest major Android release version will not be available for discovery or installation for new users with devices running Android OS versions higher than apps’ target API level. As new Android OS versions launch in the future, the requirement window will adjust accordingly.
Nothing will change for users who already have the app installed. You can still find, update, and re-download the app if needed. So if you’re using an old app that hasn’t been updated for a long time, you don’t have to worry. Anything else would probably have overshot the mark and would trigger a storm of indignation. Because old doesn’t have to be bad. Maybe unsafe, but not bad by any means.
The rationale behind this is simple. Users with the latest devices or those who are fully caught up on Android updates expect to realize the full potential of all the privacy and security protections Android has to offer. Expanding our target level API requirements will protect users from installing older apps that may not have these protections in place.