New Android Devices Must Run KitKat, says Leaked Google Memo
- Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
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An memo, reportedly sent from Google to major OEMs, has leaked online.
The memo states that, as of this month, “Google will no longer approve GMS distribution on new Android products that ship older platform releases”.
GMS is Google Mobile Services – the collective name given to Gmail, Google Maps and Google Play, which Google licenses out to manufacturers of Android devices. The most recent version of Android is 4.4 (KitKat), which was released last November. 
In future, according to the memo, each iteration will have a nine-month window for GMS approval following the public release of its successor.
According to Googles February figures, just 1.8 per cent of Android devices run KitKat, and 20 per cent still run 2.3 (Gingerbread), which was originally introduced in February 2011. This fragmentation causes a lot of compatibility headaches – and if the memo is genuine, its good to see Google taking steps to address the issue.
