Google will soon stop updating Play Services for phones running Android Jelly Bean
– this covers all three versions, 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 (API version 16 through 18,
respectively). The lifeline has yet to be cut, JB phones will receive a final update with
version 21.30.99, which is slated for release in late August.
Jelly Bean was first announced in 2012, nine years ago. It made major improvements
such as Project Butter which made the user interface smooth (with vsync at 60Hz).
Other major additions include Google Now, the now-deprecated Android Beam,
expandable notifications and the ability to turn off individual app notifications, along with
a number of audio enhancements (AAC support, uninterrupted playback, multichannel
audio, USB audio for external DACs).
Android 4.2 arrived later that year, 4.3 arrived in 2013, both kept the name Jelly Bean.
The three versions of JB represent less than 1% of active Android devices and Google is
not convinced that they are actually used. Either way, it will end support for these
Android versions, which will lighten the load on its development team (older versions
require a lot of special case management).
App developers are encouraged to drop support for Jelly Bean as well. If they configure
their apps to target API version 19+ (Android 4.4 KitKat), JB phones will still be able to
install older versions of the app, but they won’t see newer versions.
However, if an app has a significant portion of its user base that is still on JB, developers
can upload multiple APKs to the Play Store so that even Android 4.1-4.3 devices can
continue to receive updates from the app. ‘application.
For more details, see the Android Developer Blog.
