Android was already a platform on life support. Google has wielded its authority to dictate how apps should behave such that even 3rd party stores do not stray far from Google's rules. Users of android phones have little hope to run a program from 5 years ago, or to roll back a bad update in an era full of bad updates.
Android is actually much much better than iOS. For some older unmaintained apps I've dug out the APKs and most of them run without major issues, though a scary warning saying it's designed for older versions of Android.
Every few months they force you to upload new builds that use the latest "api level" .. This change makes zero difference to how the app functions.
Its a massive pain updating them and I have let several apps lapse and be taken down cus I couldnt be bothered jumping though googles arbitrary hoops.
Which I guess is google's aim, and also that they are doing this to clear as much space as they can and save a small amount of money on storage, as part of their general enshittification process.
Android has a yearly release to target a new API and this has been in place for quite some time, it's not really arbitrary.
Do I agree with it? Not really, but let's at least be honest with the time line -- and if you want to keep your apps available, the very least is a once-a-year update, shouldn't be that difficult...