Google has announced that its Chrome browser will stop supporting a few older versions of Android in the next few weeks.
Announced on a support page, Google says that Chrome will now require Android 10.0 or higher to work. This means that Android 8.0 (Oreo) and Android 9.0 (Pie), currently the older supported versions, will lose support in early August 2025.
The change kicks in with the Chrome 139 release on Android, scheduled for that first week of August.
While this is a bit of a headache for anyone on an older device, there is some good news.
Firstly, older versions of Chrome will still function. They won’t be updated any more, but they will still work. Eventually, pages will stop working on these older versions, but that won’t start kicking in for at least a few months, if not a few years.
Beyond that, this also only affects a small portion of the Android population. Per distribution numbers that were updated in April, Android 9.0 is only running on just shy of 6% of devices, while Android 8.0 and 8.1 combined are only on about 4% of devices. While 10% of the total Android population is still a big number, any newer versions would have had a significantly bigger impact.
Google says:
Chrome 138 is the last version of Chrome that will support Android 8.0 (Oreo) and Android 9.0 (Pie). Chrome 139 (tentatively scheduled for release on August 5th, 2025) is the first version of Chrome that requires Android 10.0 or later. You’ll need to ensure your device is running Android 10.0 or later to continue receiving future Chrome releases.
Older versions of Chrome will continue to work, but there will be no further updates released for users on these operating systems. If you are currently on Android 8.0 or Android 9.0, we encourage you to move to a supported Android 10.0 version (or newer) to ensure you continue to receive the latest security updates and Chrome features.
More on Google Chrome:
- Google finally rolling out Chrome for Android’s bottom address bar
- Chrome 137 for Android rolling out rounded menu corners, moves Tab Group button
- Gemini (Live) coming to Google Chrome for Mac and Windows
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Update: This article’s headline was published in error saying that Chrome would “stop working,” and has since been revised to fix that error.
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