One of Google’s most important apps will stop working on older Android devices

As just announced GoogleAbout a month from now, one of its most popular and useful apps will stop working Android Phones with older versions of the operating system, as well as wearable devices with corresponding older versions Wear OS.

It’s about Google WalletGoogle’s digital wallet, which can be used for contactless payments via your mobile phone or to host passes, tickets and different types of cards in digital form.

When and on which devices will Google Wallet stop working?

The official announcement on Google’s support page states:

On June 10, 2024It will require Google Wallet Android 9 or later On your phone and Wear OS 2.x or later On your smart watch.

To help keep wallet features, such as tap-to-pay transactions, more secure, we need to be able to send security updates to your device. Security updates are not available for Android versions lower than 9.

It is worth noting that most users, fortunately, will not be affected by this change. According to Android Studio data as of October 2023, 86.4% of Android smartphones have at least Android 9 Pie or a later version of the operating system. Of course, these numbers will change since then, but thousands of Android devices are still expected to remain without Google Wallet.

For your information, this application is based on Google Play Services, so it is not unlikely that there will be an announcement soon about a similar change in requirements. The last time Google Play Services support was changed was in August last year when Android 4.4 KitKat was excluded.