There comes a point in time for any piece of software when end of support becomes a reality. In the case of Android, that time has come for version 2.3.7 of the mobile operating system, or Gingerbread for those more familiar with the company’s old naming conventions.

According to 91mobiles, Google will no longer be allowing sing-ins for smartphones and tablets running Android 2.3.7 from 27th September onwards. As such, any old hardware you were holding onto for sentimental or nostalgic reasons will ostensibly not be able to used come October.

That is, of course, if the device is not able to upgrade, with hardware capable of updating to Android 3.0 or higher still retaining the ability to sign-in. That said, if you have not been able to update past 2.3.7 until now, the chances of being able to do so before 27th September are slim at this stage.

As for why this lack of support is coming to fruition, it has to do with account privacy and protection, according to an email that the company has been sending out to users who may be impacted by the change.

To that end, Google confirmed that the following elements will be inaccessible after 27th September for those on Android 2.3.7:

• “Try to sign in to Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps
• Add or create a new Google Account
• Perform a factory reset and try to sign in
• Change your Google Account password, which signs you out on all devices, and try to sign in again
• Remove your account from the device and try to re-add it.”

Technically speaking you could still use the phone or tablet, and potential find a workaround to this problem, but the easier and less fraught option, by signing-in will no longer be available.

[Image – Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash]