Google will no longer grant Android certification for phones with less than 2GB RAM

Billed as unmissable “bargains” to Android phone enthusiasts as cheap as possible, phones with 1GB RAM will no longer receive GMS certification, which is required for Play Store access and inclusion of Google apps like Gmail and Maps.

Important to know, the restriction only applies to Android phones that will be released from now on, not those already gathering dust on store shelves. So to be even remotely usable, an Android phone must have at least 2GB of RAM, which is the new minimum requirement for running common Android apps. Hence, handsets with 4GB RAM or more are preferable for users who want to be able to do some multitasking as well (e.g. be able to use two or more apps at the same time, without having to close and restart them each time they access a recent app list).

For example, simply starting the Facebook app can consume 1.7GB of an entry-level phone’s 2GB RAM, returning to the main screen and opening any other app guarantees forcibly closing the previously accessed app. So on a cheap phone you’ll have to wait for the app to start from scratch each time, losing the position you navigated to in the content feed, or the comment you previously read.

Although it’s getting closer to being completely abandoned by manufacturers, the Android Go family of phones still adhere to the same minimum system requirement: 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, with Google also taking into account that Go version apps tend to disappear from the Play Store.