Google Play will stop downloading abandoned apps

Google is planning a large-scale purge of the Android app store from obsolete programs. The company officially warned developers that from November 1, 2022, Google Play will not show in search results and allow downloading applications that have not been adapted for modern versions of Android.

However, this does not mean that you need support for the latest build of Android: the application needs to be adapted to a major version of the OS that was released at least 2 years ago. That is, in November (when Android 13 is already released), applications must be adapted to at least Android 11.

The changes are due to the fact that such applications can not only work poorly on modern devices, but also to give attackers access to vulnerabilities discovered after the release of the latest version of such programs.

Google noted that most of the apps in the store are already compliant with the new standards, so they won't be affected by these changes. Other developers will have enough time to put their projects in order. To make it easier for them, the Google Developers website published

instruction adapting applications to a modern API.