![\"Android](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Android-12-stock-photo-3.jpg\"\/ "\\"Android")
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Edgar Cervantes \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
TL;DR<\/p>\n
We spend a lot of time talking about the best Android phones<\/a> and the latest Android version, but most people don\u2019t have the newest devices with the most up-to-date Android release. In fact, the latest available data from Google showed that the majority of users are still running Android 12 or earlier. Because most users don\u2019t have access to the latest Android version, Google backports security patches to older releases so users with older devices stay secure. However, Google doesn\u2019t maintain support for older releases forever, and Android 12 is the next release that will lose support.<\/p>\n \nYou\u2019re reading an Authority Insights<\/strong> story. Discover Authority Insights<\/a> for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n The latest Android version distribution statistics are almost a year old but show that older Android versions still have a huge share of the market.<\/p>\n Google published the Android Security Bulletin for April 2025<\/a> last week. The bulletin lists the security vulnerabilities that are patched in builds with the April 2025 Security Patch Level. It also specifies which Android versions have available patches, and notably, patches for Android 12 and 12L are missing.<\/p>\n Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n The Android Security Bulletin for April 2025 shows that security patches for Android 12 and 12L are no longer available.<\/p>\n Although Google hasn\u2019t publicly confirmed why, Android Authority can confirm that Google ended support for Android 12 and 12L as of March 31, 2025. According to a source, Google terminated security patch backports for Android 12 and 12L on March 31, 2025, with the Android Security Bulletin for March 2025 being the last bulletin to list patches for those two releases.<\/p>\n For reference, Google released Android 12 on October 4, 2021<\/a>, and Android 12L on March 7, 2022. This means it\u2019s been almost 3.5 years since Android 12\u2019s release and 3 years since Android 12L\u2019s release. Google typically backports security patches for 3.5 years after a new Android version\u2019s release, so Android 12 and 12L reaching end-of-life aligns with past releases. However, given how many users are still on these releases, it\u2019s still worth noting.<\/p>\n What happens next?<\/p>\n With Google ending support, device makers will need to manually backport security patches if they want to provide support for existing devices running Android 12 or 12L. That shouldn\u2019t be an issue for larger companies like Huawei, whose latest EMUI release is still based on Android 12, nor for companies with extended support contracts, but it could pose a problem for companies with fewer resources.<\/p>\n Robert Triggs \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n Although Huawei is shifting away from Android, its latest versions of EMUI are still based on the open source version of Android 12.<\/p>\n However, companies that truly care about their devices\u2019 security should provide regular Android OS version upgrades. Google engineers fix many bugs and security issues that aren\u2019t documented in the Android Security Bulletin and therefore aren\u2019t backported to older releases. These security issues go unlabeled because the engineers don\u2019t even know they\u2019re security vulnerabilities. This is why Google encourages companies to routinely upgrade their devices\u2019 OS versions and kernel builds<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have a phone or tablet running Android 12 or 12L, it\u2019s a good time to upgrade your device. Your device will still receive security updates for Google apps and Project Mainline modules, but it likely won\u2019t receive any more security updates that fix core Android OS issues. In fact, it likely won\u2019t receive any more updates at all since Google ended approvals of new Android 12-based builds a while ago. It\u2019s probably safe to repurpose your old Android 12 device as a security camera or dedicated media player, but I would advise against using it as your primary device.<\/p>\n![\"Android](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Android-Version-Distribution-Statistics-May-24.jpg\"\/ "\\"Android")
<\/p>\n![\"Android](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Android-Security-Bulletin-for-April-2025.jpg\"\/ "\\"Android")
<\/p>\n![\"Huawei](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Huawei-P60-Pro-homescreen-apps.jpg\"\/ "\\"Huawei")
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