After the 31st of January next year, Google have confirmed that they will stop ‘approving’ new devices running Android 9 or earlier and only approve Android 10 devices.
In order to have Google services on it, a phone must be ‘approved’ by Google. Take the recent Huawei Mate 30 for example. That wasn’t approved and therefore Huawei are finding ways to build their own ecosystem without letting US company restrictions for working with them standing in their way.
So basically, after 31st January 2020, Google will stop allowing new devices running Android 9 or earlier to have Google services such as the Play Store and Photos preloaded.
It was noted on XDA that manufacturers could get past this and launch a device running Android 9 or earlier after the deadline by submitting the approval application for the device before the deadline and then launching it after the deadline. This is probably how Samsung released the Galaxy M10, M20, and M30 which ran Android 8.1 Oreo despite being released after the approval deadline for 8.1 Oreo and they still managed to include Google services.
Please note that this will not affect old devices released before 31st January 2020 that are stuck on Oreo and still being manufactured. This only applies for new devices announced before 31st January 2020.
What Android did your device come preloaded with and currently runs? Are you satisfied with it? Tell me down in the comments below.
-Chas 😎
