Google officially ended support for Android 4.0 ICS

[Djole123]

Farewell, ICS. 

 

Today, Google officially dropped support for Google Play services and the Google Play store on Ice Cream Sandwich. 

 

 

Android 4.0, also known as Android Ice Cream Sandwich, was released 7 years ago, and compared to Gingerbread, it had a massive UI overhaul brought from Honeycomb called Holo. It also brought along things like virtual navigation keys and Face unlock, something we take for granted even today. 

 

Today Google is pulling the plug on ICS and technically renders it obsolete (to its credit many apps require Jelly Bean at the very least to run).

 

I don't know how relevant these news are, since only .3% of Android users actively use ICS. Do you or someone you know still have a phone that runs the old piece of software? Let me know in the comments, I'm curious.

 

Then again, ICS was a huge deal at its time and does mark one of the first major overhauls of Android UI (aside from the flopped Honeycomb).

 

Source:

https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/12/07/google-play-services-drops-support-for-android-4-0-ics/

[Teddy07]

I am still running Android 4.4 (Galaxy S2) Will probably upgrade next year also it is still ok because I don´t use it much.

 

[AlTech]

Google ended support for all versions of Android prior to 6.0 as of early 2018.

 

The difference here is Google is pulling the plug for Ice Cream Sandwich and so it won't work. 

 

There is a difference between "not supported" and "doesn't work" by the way.

[elfensky]

8 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

I am still running Android 4.4 (Galaxy S2) Will probably upgrade next year also it is still ok because I don´t use it much.

 

Are there no custom roms that get it to at least 5.0 if not 6.0?

Edit: there are unofficial Android Pie roms for the S2, so I'm gonna go out and say that you should definitely be able to find a stable Nougat, if not higher. As long as you're happy with the performance, you can keep using it

I still have my Nexus 4 as a backup, I think it runs Oreo.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

THEY ONLY ENDED SUPPORT FOR IT NOW!!!?????!!?!

 

soon, the iPhone 5s will be 7 years old, and it still runs the latest iOS... 

[mynameisjuan]

26 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

THEY ONLY ENDED SUPPORT FOR IT NOW!!!?????!!?!

 

soon, the iPhone 5s will be 7 years old, and it still runs the latest iOS... 

Well the manufacturers take the blame for not upgrading not google

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

4 minutes ago, mynameisjuan said:

Well the manufacturers take the blame for not upgrading not google

but google allows it... 

[Djole123]

39 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Google ended support for all versions of Android prior to 6.0 as of early 2018.

 

The difference here is Google is pulling the plug for Ice Cream Sandwich and so it won't work. 

 

There is a difference between "not supported" and "doesn't work" by the way.

Doesn't work is a strong term. ICS devices will still work perfectly fine but they won't be able to update any of the GApps. Obsolete, yes, but they will still work. 

[LAwLz]

1 hour ago, firelighter487 said:

but google allows it... 

So is Microsoft to blame if for example Canon doesn't develop a driver for Windows 10 for one of their old printers? 

 

Should Microsoft go to every program developer and force them to constantly update their programs to remain compatible forever? 

 

2 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Google ended support for all versions of Android prior to 6.0 as of early 2018.

 

The difference here is Google is pulling the plug for Ice Cream Sandwich and so it won't work. 

 

There is a difference between "not supported" and "doesn't work" by the way.

ICS will continue to work. 

What is happening is that Google has (since several years back) decoupled a lot of the Android APIs and ship them through the play store. These APIs are bundled into what's called "Google Play Services". It allows older versions of the OS to have the same APIs as newer versions without relying on manufacturer pushing out OS updates.

 

The next version of Google Play Services will not work on ICS. The old versions will still work however. That means that if an app uses APIs which only exist in the new Google play services version, it will no longer work on ICS. 

 

Everything that currently works will continue to work. Some future updates and applications will not work however. 

[aezakmi]

2 hours ago, firelighter487 said:

THEY ONLY ENDED SUPPORT FOR IT NOW!!!?????!!?!

 

soon, the iPhone 5s will be 7 years old, and it still runs the latest iOS... 

iOS is better in terms of stability and doesn't needs a ridiculous amount of resources *cough* RAM *cough* to run, kinda like windows mobile was

 

the 5s has "only" 1GB RAM, now can an android phone can run with 1GB memory? no, you can't even open the fucking web browser. man those things are a joke and normies just keep buying a new one every year lmao

[AlTech]

56 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

So is Microsoft to blame if for example Canon doesn't develop a driver for Windows 10 for one of their old printers? 

 

Should Microsoft go to every program developer and force them to constantly update their programs to remain compatible forever? 

 

ICS will continue to work. 

What is happening is that Google has decoupled a lot of the Android APIs and ship them through the play store. These APIs are bundled into what's called "Google Play Services". 

I know what Google Play Services is. It's a BS way for Google to turn open source Android APIs into a Proprietary package and try to control Android.

[Trixanity]

22 minutes ago, aezakmi said:

iOS is better in terms of stability and doesn't needs a ridiculous amount of resources *cough* RAM *cough* to run, kinda like windows mobile was

 

the 5s has "only" 1GB RAM, now can an android phone can run with 1GB memory? no, you can't even open the fucking web browser. man those things are a joke and normies just keep buying a new one every year lmao

Pretty much all of what you just said is either completely false or at best inaccurate. 

[williamcll]

oh fug, I was recently given an android tablet running 4.0.3. I wonder if it is possible to upgrade it.

[rcmaehl]

7 hours ago, williamcll said:

oh fug, I was recently given an android tablet running 4.0.3. I wonder if it is possible to upgrade it.

LineageOS may be available for your device. If not, search xda <your device> and check under development, there may be at least ONE rom for it.

[Commodus]

18 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

I know what Google Play Services is. It's a BS way for Google to turn open source Android APIs into a Proprietary package and try to control Android.

Well, the truth is that the "Android is open!  Open open open!" shouting was really more of a marketing line than a practical philosophy. The goal was ultimately to cater to vendors wanting an alternative to Windows Mobile/Phone, not to mention to pander to the Anything But Apple crowd.  As I like to put it: Android is open to manufacturers, open to carriers, closed to you.

 

This isn't even to say that Android is bad (it's dandy), just that it's not really the open platform Google claimed it was.

[Sauron]

The only device I have that is old enough to have shipped with 4.4 is my 2012 nexus 7, but I have a custom 5.1 rom on it and I use fdroid as an app store on it (plus I didn't install any google services), so this won't affect me.

[Commodus]

1 minute ago, Sauron said:

The only device I have that is old enough to have shipped with 4.4 is my 2012 nexus 7, but I have a custom 5.1 rom on it and I use fdroid as an app store on it (plus I didn't install any google services), so this won't affect me.

This only affects 4.0 releases -- 4.4 is KitKat.

[AlTech]

2 hours ago, Commodus said:

Well, the truth is that the "Android is open!  Open open open!" shouting was really more of a marketing line than a practical philosophy. The goal was ultimately to cater to vendors wanting an alternative to Windows Mobile/Phone, not to mention to pander to the Anything But Apple crowd.  As I like to put it: Android is open to manufacturers, open to carriers, closed to you.

 

This isn't even to say that Android is bad (it's dandy), just that it's not really the open platform Google claimed it was.

AOSP Android without Google Play Services and Google Apps is open source. So I think calling it not open is misleading but yes it's not as open as Google would like people to believe.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

basically all your phones are headed to obsolescence. there was a time where you thought there'd come a day the date counter ends at 2070 or 2099 so what would happen then to your back and white mobile phones, now its when will the app support ends.  

[Commodus]

38 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

AOSP Android without Google Play Services and Google Apps is open source. So I think calling it not open is misleading but yes it's not as open as Google would like people to believe.

Oh, of course, but as I'm sure you know, AOSP isn't really viable for many people.  The main reason many people get an Android phone, the tight integration with Google services, isn't there (not without some unsanctioned kung fu, anyway).  It's like when Microsoft open-sources a development tool or a 30-year-old OS... well, thanks, but I can't really do the one thing I'd most like to do with your code!

[SupremeGOAT]

samsung galaxy nexus.. the first teacher i had a crush on...

[williamcll]

23 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

LineageOS may be available for your device. If not, search xda <your device> and check under development, there may be at least ONE rom for it.

Will try, I doubt there exist a version of it since this tablet is pretty obscure.