What's The Oldest Version Of Android You Would Use In A Smartphone Or Tablet?
Sat, 05/16/2026 - 9:03am
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    19 years
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I am still perusing some smartphones and tablets that are rugged and have a bright screen. Many of them have somewhat older versions of the Android Operating System.
What is the oldest version of Android that you would use in a smartphone or tablet?
app dependent
Many Android apps state which version is the oldest they will use.
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Depends on use case
For the vast majority of people I'd strongly suggest 13 or 14 at a minimum, but I highly doubt any normie would be worth hacking, your phone won't self-destruct the moment you stop getting security updates. My mother used Android 6 (from 2015, last patch in 2017) up until 2022.
Google periodically updates
Google periodically updates the minimum Android version for accessing Google Play Services and account sign-ins. As of now, Android 6.0 is required. However, even though you can activate such an old version of Android, apps have their own minimum version requirements, with some apps requiring Android 9 or later.
Ideally, you want Android 14 through 16, as those are still supported by Google. 14 will however go out of support once Android 17 is released.
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