Google finally ending support for Android Market on Eclair and older versions
There has been some backlash recently about the length of time that Google supports various devices and systems; but honestly, if you had asked us, we probably wouldn't have realized that Google had support going back as far as the Android Market. Do you all remember the Android Market? That was the store that existed before Google Play (and actually there was some backlash to the name Google Play at the time of the switch.)
The shocker may be that Google has been supporting the Android Market on older devices all this time, but that time has passed. Google has announced that because Android 2.1 Eclair has reached the threshold of being less than 0.1% of the Android ecosystem, Google will stop supporting the Android Market on those systems. Of course, because those systems make up such a small percentage of the Android whole, it shouldn't matter much. Google introduced the Play Store with Android 2.2, so any devices older than that should probably upgrade anyway (given that they're about seven years old at this point.)
Surprisingly, there are versions of the Android Market for Android 2.2 devices still active in the world, so Google will continue to support those systems, but theoretically those days are numbered and users with devices that old will be forced to upgrade to something that is newer than seven years old. That seems reasonable, doesn't it?
source: Android Developers
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