Google has officially discontinued Google Play Services for devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which means the minimum version of Android 7.0 Nougat is now API level 24. This drastic change ends a very good run for Marshmallow which has been in place since September 2015.
Although devices stuck to the legacy operating system may not be able to instantly stop working, Google’s quiet update to its support guidelines will signal the end for millions of older smartphones still in use worldwide.
What is Google Play Services and Why does it matter? As a vital background framework for key Android features, Google Play Services is the engine behind all of them. It is where everything from signing into Google accounts and getting push notifications to location tracking, Maps functionality, device security verification, and data syncing happens in the background.
In addition, Google Play Services provides developers with the APIs needed to build and integrate Google-powered capabilities into third-party apps.
We note that Google Play Services is different from Google Play Store. Also, there is a large part of Android apps that are installed, updated, and work on Play Services. Developers will gradually phase out compatibility in Android 6.0, with apps not becoming available to download and not receiving any updates or even going offline.
Not entirely. Devices that run Android 6.0 Marshmallow will still have basic hardware and software functionality. Users can still make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, view locally stored photos, run apps that are already installed on the device.
Despite these baseline capabilities surviving, the overall user experience will degrade progressively over time. As the application versions are evolving and new Play Services and more modern Android systems are built to support them, users should expect compatibility issues.
Growing Security Risks and Reliability Issues. As time goes on, core functions—signing into Google accounts, using location-based tools, and getting push notifications—may begin to act erratically or fail outright.
Perhaps the most important thing is security for the transition. Without Google Play Services and Google Play Protect updates, these older devices will no longer receive necessary security patches. This leaves legacy hardware more susceptible to new digital threats in the future, and upgrading to a new, more supported device is the best long-term solution.
