A month ago we reported that Google is dropping the iPhone user agent for the Android version and that would happen on April 18th.
I actually checked this morning to see if the Google Search Console removed the "upcoming" version so webmasters can check to get ready. Now that we switched over, there is no need to have both. But it was still there.
But that doesn't mean that the new Android version of the GoogleBot is not live, it is.
Gary Illyes from Google confirmed it just now on Twitter saying "the Smartphone Googlebot UA was updated as planned."
Here is his tweet:
So @Missiz_Z forced me to tell you that the Smartphone Googlebot UA was updated as planned https://t.co/l1oYUOXKzf pic.twitter.com/tiQ2cfTzNm
— Gary Illyes (@methode) April 20, 2016
You can check to make sure your site is crawlable with the new Android version of the user agent in the fetch as Google in Google Search Console. Note, the upcoming smartphone option is what you want to use until Google pulls it and then use the normal Smartphone user agent.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
