Google Chrome suffers brain freeze on Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Ad giant to old OS users: Move on already!

Google says Chrome 42 will be the last version for phones, tabs and other things running Android 4.0 to 4.0.4, aka Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

People using ICS will just get security updates for Chrome after version 42 is released. Users running Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, and later will continue to get major new versions of the browser.

Google's decision isn't a death sentence for ICS, but marks a significant step towards its retirement given the central role Chrome plays on Android. Google released ICS back in 2011.

According to the web giant, ICS's market share sits at 5.9 per cent of all Android devices.

"In the last year, we've seen the number of Chrome users running ICS drop by 30 per cent," wrote Google software engineer Aurimas Lutikas.

"Developing new features on older phones has become increasingly challenging, and supporting ICS takes time away from building new experiences on the devices owned by the vast majority of our users." ®