Remember Android Lollipop? This version of the Android operating system was introduced in June 2014 at Google I/O and was released five months later through over-the-air updates. The first phone to come with Lollipop pre-installed was the Nexus 6 manufactured by Motorola. Besides being known by its “dessert name,” this version of Android started as the fifth major version of the OS and included Android 5.0 and Android 5.1.1.
What brings up this older Android build today is the news that Google has officially dropped support for it. This is being accomplished with Google’s announcement that it will not continue to update Google Play services for Android Lollipop devices. Currently, Android 5.0-5.1.1 is used by less than 1% of active Android device owners. Dropping support for Android Lollipop will allow Google engineers to focus on more current versions of the operating system that can run features still in use today. It also allows Google to concentrate on improving its more capable hardware.
The first phone to have Android 5.0 pre-installed was the Nexus 6. | Image credit-PhoneArena
This news doesn’t mean that your Android device running Lollipop will stop working. It simply means not to expect security updates, new features, and compatibility with some Google apps that require Google services. Last July, Google ended support for Android 4.4 aka KitKat. Google’s updated support page notes that Google Play services are currently supported on devices running Android 6.0 or higher which is known as Marshmallow.
“Android Lollipop was first released in November 2014, nearly 10 years ago and since then, we’ve introduced many innovative improvements and features for Android, which are unavailable on Lollipop. Today, we are discontinuing Google Play Services updates for Android Lollipop devices since they account for less than 1% of active Android devices. Lollipop devices will continue to function but won’t receive any new features, important security updates, and may not be compatible with some apps. We strongly encourage users to upgrade to newer Android versions for the latest features and security enhancements.”-Google
The most recent stable version of Android available is Android 14 even though the Android 15 beta program has already started. While Google doesn’t promote the dessert names anymore, Android 14 and Android 15 are known as Upside Down Cake and Vanilla Ice Cream respectively.