[janvidar]

> This isn't a security issue, this is a "google doesn't want to support the platform" issue.

Well, it is a platform security issue - sometimes a privacy issue.

Google essentially is improving security over time by fixing broken APIs which are deprecated and removed over time.

There are plenty of security and privacy related changes where APIs have been fixed in backwards incompatible ways. Essentially, this has been solved by adding more permissions - where either Google Play, or the user needs to consent.

In order to not break backwards compatibility this has been enforced based on the "target API level", and in order to prevent malware from simply targeting old API levels, they enforce this in Google Play by forcing apps to target current API levels.

In most cases, the changes required are rather small, sometimes code changes, sometimes compliance/documentation changes - or a combination.