Google has today announced that older versions of G Suite mobile and desktop apps will stop working from August 12, 2020. The search giant is urging users and admins to update their apps to be able to continue using them. The versions of a list of apps released before December 2018 will be affected by the change.
The company says that this is due to the “API and service infrastructure” changes that it began making in 2018. It is not clear as to what exactly the changes are, but it could be due to the efforts brought about by Project Strobe (according to 9to5Google) that aimed at reviewing third-party developer access to user data, which also brought API changes to apps like Google Drive and Gmail. The project was announced the very day that reports broke out about an API flaw that let third-party developers access Google+ users" personal data.
The list of apps that the firm says should be updated include:
- Classroom iOS app
- Docs Android and iOS apps
- Drive Android and iOS apps
- Drive File Stream desktop app
- Gmail iOS app
- Sheets Android and iOS apps
- Slides Android and iOS apps
Google is suggesting that both, admins and consumers update these apps before August 12, since the change applies to all G Suite customers and users with a personal Google account. The firm is also asking admins to update to the latest version of Drive File Stream if they deploy data using that service.
If you are using one of these apps and have not updated them in a while, it is best to head to the respective apps’ store links from above and perform the update.