In order to load websites on your Android device, you need to have proper security certificates installed on your device. However, a recent report suggests that the older Android version will not support secure websites by September 2021.
HTTPS is what the web uses in order to securely transmit information over the web. But older Android versions, specifically Android 7.1 or lower would not load secure websites from September 2021.
This piece of information comes from Let’s Encrypt, which is one of the world’s leading certificate authorities. Notably, the Let’s Encrypt group’s certificates are used by approximately 30% of all web domains.
Let’s Encrypt applied its very own ISRG Root X1′ root certificate, which needed to be included in all browsers and operating systems. But it has been cross-signed with IdenTrust’s ‘DST Root X3’ root.
In September 2021, the partnership between Let’s Encrypt with IdenTrust will expire. Moreover, the company has no intention of extending this partnership after the said date.
Altogether this means that all browsers without Let’s Encrypt’s root certificates will no longer work. The announcement also points out that devices running Android 7.1 or lower, will be affected.
A partial workaround for users would be to install the Firefox browser
This should not come as a surprise. As it is quite common for developers to stop supporting older versions of the operating system. And since we already have Android 11, it is understandable.
Besides, as per the data by Let’s Encrypt, it highlights that 33.8 percent of Android users on Google Play run Android version older than 7.1.
This is due to the fact that earlier it was a common phenomenon to not provide timely updates to smartphones. Apparently, this kept the devices on the shipping version of the Android OS.
It was quite common back in 2016 or even 2017. However, things changed quite recently, as OEMs and users also understood the importance of timely updates.
The situation is improving and Samsung has also joined the leagues of Google and OnePlus in providing three years of firmware support for its devices.
But this won’t change anything for the users on Android 7.1 or lower as they have to upgrade their phones to later versions of Android in order to securely surf the internet.
There is one alternative that the users, who still wish to stay on Android 7.1 or lower. Basically, they can use the Firefox browser, as it uses its own certificate store that includes the ISRG root.
Though it will let you surf some websites, applications outside of Firefox will still continue to break. So, in order to get rid of the hassle, it is high time that you upgrade to a newer version of Android OS.