If you use an old phone, or if you’ve never bothered to upgrade to the latest version of your phone’s operating system, it’s time to pay attention:
WhatsApp might stop working on your phone soon. (Oh, and you really should upgrade your mobile OS anyway, you’re asking for a security breach if you don’t).
Which Phones Will Stop Supporting WhatsApp?
Estimates suggest more than 20 million handsets will be affected in total. Any phone running one of the following operating systems will no longer be supported. WhatsApp will stop working in the coming days:
- Android versions older than 2.3.3
- Windows Phone 8.0 and older
- iPhone iOS 6
- Nokia Symbian S60
- BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10
Worse still, WhatsApp will stop working on several more common handsets in February 2020. They are any devices running:
Android versions 2.3.7 and older
iOS 7 and older
Lastly, support for the app on the Nokia S40 will end in December 2018.
We know what you’re thinking: “Those dates are still a long time away, it doesn’t matter.” Perhaps, but in a blog post on the matter, WhatsApp said that users on those operating systems could lose functionality at any time between now and then.
Sure, it’s unlikely that the basic text messaging capabilities will stop functioning before the cut-off in 2020, but what about the ability to send photos and videos? And are you confident that video and voice calling will continue to work?
More importantly, users on any device listed above will no longer be able to create new WhatsApp accounts. That applies to the devices that lose support in 2020, as well as the devices that are set to lose support in the coming days.
The best solution is to update your Android or update your iPhone as soon as possible. And if your device is so old that you cannot upgrade it, perhaps it’s time to look for a new smartphone entirely.
