It’s been nine years since Android Jelly Bean burst onto the scene, and surprisingly, there are still 1% of active Android devices running this version. However, Google has announced that the time is coming to an end for official Play Services support.
In a blog post, Google stated that it is “deprecating” support for Jelly Bean in future releases of Play Services. At the end of August 2021, any phones running Android 4.1-4.3 Jelly Bean will no longer receive Play Services updates.
Some of the highlights of Jelly Bean included support for Bluetooth LE, which opened the door for smartwatches to be more useful on Android. It also launched alongside the Nexus 7, which is still one of the best Android tablets of all time.
It’s kind of sad to sit here and think about the good ole days when Google’s Nexus devices were at the top of the mountain. Not the mention those awesome “Google Experience” devices from some of the best phone makers in the business.
However all good things must come to an end, and to commemorate, I’ll be having a few Jelly Belly’s tonight.