14 DAY TRIAL // Bad news for smartphone users who own devices powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, as Google has just announced it will stop updating Chrome browser.
The reason Google took this decision is the number of Chrome users running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich by 30% in the last couple of months.
This isn't that surprising, especially that with each version of Chrome, new features and improvements were added, which are more power demanding and Android 4.0 ICS devices aren't really known for their hardware specs.
According to Google, “developing new features on older phones has become increasingly challenging, and supporting ICS takes time away from building new experiences on the devices owned by the vast majority of our users.
“So, with Chrome’s 42nd release, we’ll stop updating Chrome on ICS devices. After Chrome 42, users on ICS devices can continue to use Chrome but won’t get further updates.”
Low Android 4.0 ICS market share makes Google stop development
Even though Google announced it would drop support for Chrome for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich after version 42, it doesn't really make it right for those who still use this version of the operating system.
It's a bit unclear whether or not minor updates for bug fixes or tweaks will still be released after version 42, but a major version is out of the question.
It makes sense that Google wants to move on when it comes to Android software and try to focus its development on the latest versions of the OS, but the problem is there aren't too many people using Lollipop yet.
With only 5.9% market share, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the least used versions of the mobile platform. This kind of validates Google's decision to stop Chrome development for Android ICS, so if you're one of those users who hasn't upgraded yet, then maybe this announcement will convince you to switch to a newer device.