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Warning to Android users as 47 older devices have only a week left before the risk of hacking increases
A warning has been issued to Android users with older devices as their phones are at a much higher risk of being hacked starting next week.
There are 47 devices on the market that will be affected, including several Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia phones.
The warning comes as Google plans to end support for phones running Android 4.4 software, known as Android KitKat.
The change will take effect on August 1, and there will be no more Google Play updates after this date.
Users cannot update apps, which means their devices are slowly becoming unusable.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE GT-i9195 is one of 47 devices that have a week left before they are at greater risk of being hacked
The Android KitKat platform was first released 10 years ago and the number of active devices is now less than 1%
The news was announced by the Blog for Android developerswhere the company wrote:
“The Android KitKat platform was first released 10 years ago and since then we have introduced many innovative enhancements and features to Android that are not available on KitKat.”
They also revealed that the number of active devices on KitKat is below 1% as more and more users have updated to the latest Android versions.
Check out the full list below to check if your device is at risk.
Some of the listed devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini LTE, are still for sale on Ebay and other thrift stores.
When it was released in 2013, KitKat was the first Android to introduce full-screen video playback and allow users to choose their own launcher.
It was also known for improving the speeds of the devices and providing a cleaner interface.
However, at age 10, most apps, games, and manufacturers no longer support KitKat, and Google’s decision will only further limit what it can do.