Google ends security updates for Android 12

Ben Schoon | Apr 15 2025 - 9:45 am PT

Google is pulling the plug on security updates for Android 12 after four years, leaving older devices without further patches unless they’re updated to a newer OS version.

Each month, Google posts a new security bulletin for Android which brings a load of security fixes that include not just the latest version of Android, but prior versions as well. Starting with the April 2025 patch, though, Google has dropped Android 12 and Android 12L from the docket.

The latest security bulletin exclusively includes fixes for Android 13 and newer, where the March patch still includes Android 12.

Google hasn’t issued any guidance here, but Android Authority cites “a source” that says security patches for Android 12 ended on March 31, 2025. Google released Android 12 in late 2021, with 12L having arrived in March 2022.

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*Google’s March and April security bulletins*

This change affects anyone with a device still running Android 12, but only to a fairly minor extent.

Realistically, most devices that are still running Android 12 or Android 12L aren’t still getting updates anyway. Pixel devices left behind on that version haven’t been updated for quite some time, for example. Samsung is perhaps the only brand still providing semi-regular monthly security updates to older devices, but even 2020’s Galaxy S20 series is running Android 13 with these newer patches. The Galaxy S10 series is the company’s longest-updated set of devices running Android 12, and updates officially ended for that series in 2023. Any brands that still wish to provide these security patches to older devices can still do so, but it requires more manual work to do so.

Google hasn’t updated its figures on Android version distribution in several months, but Android 12 was still on 14.7% of active devices as of May 2024.

Devices still running Android 12 will continue to get updates through the Play Store, including a number of security-related updates, but this move on Google’s part is certainly a sign that users should consider upgrading to newer devices.