At that time when Ice Cream Sandwich being the latest version, had provided hundreds of APIs for developers.
And now, after seven long years, Google, the building base has finally decided to discontinue its support from Play Store services.
R.I.P Android Ice Cream Sandwich!
In its Developers blog, Google said “The Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) platform is seven years old and the active device count has been below 1% for some time. Consequently, we are deprecating support for ICS in future releases of Google Play services. For devices running ICS, the Google Play Store will no longer update Play Services APK beyond version 14.7.99.”
So what happens now? Simple. Just those old folks still on 4.0 to 4.0.4 versions can’t see any upgrades and the developers with those APIs (14 & 15) can’t communicate with their devices anymore. This act lets developers put the minimum API levels to 15 now.
From the latest Android distribution charts, it was seen that Ice Cream Sandwich’s part is of 0.3%. A negligible share to get eliminated soon.
Waving it a goodbye, let’s explore its past, some key developments it brought to us in that era.
- Unlike the previous versions which are especially for Mobiles or Tablets, 4.0 is a unified API, which is for both Mobiles and Tablets.
- Accessibility, the one which no one considers today, has been a revolutionary invention for vision loss people. The drag of fingers across the screen shouts out the content.
- Introduction of NFC – for a 4cm range.
- Instant Voice typing – Present in previous versions but very slow. 4.0 had this process sped it up, thus instantly.
- Facial recognition for unlocking – But didn’t go well back then.
- Pressing the power key and Volume down key simultaneously – Screenshot! That’s a most required need fulfilled.
- App folder creation and Recent apps on the home screen.
- P2P WiFi, Visual Voicemail, Camera features etc.
Fact – The first launched with Icecream Sandwich is Samsung Google Nexus.
