If they had not already done it on their own initiative, from now on Android app developers can no longer use Google Play Services for apps that are compatible with Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Google already had announced at the end of last year that this would occur in early 2017, and now the Google Play Services 10.2 update notes that have begun to work this week confirm that it will be the first version that will not support Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Google Play Services offers app developers a whole set of software libraries so they can add functionality to their Android apps.
Those few people who may still be using a phone with the Gingerbread operating system, which was released in 2010, can rest assured. This new movement it does not mean that your phone will stop working however any apps you have installed will no longer be updated .
While support for Android Gingerbread is disappearing, Google Play Services 10.2 adds a number of new features that developers can use in their applications for Android. For example, if you are using the Google Fit In their apps, they can now include features to monitor even more health data, such as blood pressure, blood glucose, oxygen saturation, body position, body temperature, and reproductive health data. The applications that use the Google Maps they can now include custom styles in certain areas.
Additionally, Google's Login API can now be used by Android game developers, making it easier to authenticate the server for those apps. There are also numerous enhancements to the ad tools.
Although most of these changes are aimed only at application developers, it is obvious that they will end up allowing improvements in Android applications that users will benefit from.