Android P, the latest version of the smartphone operating system is all set to stop its support for apps built for Android 4.1 and lower. It was earlier this month when Android P’s developer preview was made public. According to the latest reports, with Android P, app developers will need to maintain a minimum target API level of 17. This API level is same as it is required in Android 4.2. That means Google is all set to strike off the apps on smartphones with Android 4.1 or lower. What this basically means is that the applications below API level 17 will stop functioning when the latest version of Android P is rolled out.
The report was published in Android Police which was spotted on Reddit. A thread with a new MIN_SUPPORTED_TARGET_SDK_INT class checks out that the minimum API level which is required by Android P. The Reddit post reads the details of an API teardown for Android P. This means that the apps that target a lower value than level 17 then it will fail to install and run on the latest version of Android P.
It should be noted that with the Android P Developer Preview 1, Google warns its users every time it sees an old app. The message it read: This app was built for an older version of Android and may not work properly. Try checking for updates, or contact the developer.
However, it is still unclear whether Google will block the old apps when Android P is released or it will continue with a pop-up message. It should be noted that it was back in December last year when Google in a blog post read that new application which was submitted should be able to target Android versions no more than a year old.
As of now, what we know about the latest Android P is that it will come with a support for the notch as most smartphones this year will have that on the display. Android P will have a multi-camera support and a better performance and ensure more security.
