Summary: Google has officially confirmed that Android 12 and 12L have reached the end of official support. They will no longer be getting security patches, and that includes the one for April 2025. If you’re running a device with Android 12 or 12L, it may be time to upgrade.
If you’re still running a device with Android 12 or Android 12L installed, it’s time to upgrade. Why? Well, both Android 12 and Android 12L have reached the very end of official Google support, which means no more updates will be issued for either.
Android 12 and 12L have reached the end of official Google support
Do note that neither one of these two OS versions will reach the April 2025 security update. The last official update was the one for March 2025. So, officially, as of March 31, these two OS versions are not supported.
Another thing to note is that while this rule applies to Google updates, OEMs can still manually release updates for devices running Android 12 or 12L, of course. That’s unlikely to happen in this instance, but, it’s a possibility. There’s also an option to switch to a custom ROM, of course.
Both Android 12 and 12L were released back in October 2021, so basically three and a half years ago. Some of you probably assumed that they’re irrelevant either way at this point and that not many devices run them. Well, if that’s your assumption, you’re wrong.
Quite a significant chunk of Android users still use Android 12 or 12L
Based on information from Statcounter, over 12% of Android devices run Android 12 or 12L… globally. That’s quite a significant chunk of overall Android-based devices. So it’s definitely an important detail for those users. It’s never a good idea to continue using a device that is no longer getting software support, at least via security updates.
Considering this change, well-known devices from the Samsung Galaxy S10 series, Google Pixel 3a series, and OnePlus 7 series are no longer supported, just to name a few. If you’re running one of these, you should consider upgrading.