Google has urged about a billion Android smartphone users to think about changing devices. The reason is a recent report that said about 40% of Android devices no longer receive security updates and are still vulnerable to malware and hacks, Forbes reported.
Security patch support has been discontinued for devices running Android 12 and below. These are smartphones launched before around 2021. According to current statistics, only 57.9% of devices run Android 13 or higher, while 42.1% of the ecosystem actually lacks adequate protection against new threats.
The situation is aggravated by platform fragmentation. Because Google doesn't directly control most manufacturers, system updates are distributed unevenly. As a result, the latest version, Android 16, is used by only 7.5% of smartphone owners. By comparison, Apple's iOS 26 operating system is installed on about half of iPhones, with the remaining 40% running the previous version.
Officially, outdated Android devices continue to receive basic protection through the Google Play Protect service, which is supported starting with Android 7. However, the company emphasizes that this mechanism does not replace system updates. Without them, smartphones remain vulnerable to new attacks, data leaks, and account compromises.
