WhatsApp Messanger, a Facebook-owned app has sent notice to millions of its users of Android and iPhones devices running much older operating systems to upgrade or be locked out beginning February 1st.
In a recent blog post, WhatsApp said the move is informed by the fact that they don’t develop these operating systems actively anymore, and hence some features might cease to function soon.
All WhatsApp subscribers are advised to switch to the latest version of Android or iOS available for their phones for better experiences.
This development means that all users on incompatible devices will not manage to create new WhatsApp accounts or verify their accounts again
So which devices have been affected?
- iPhones running iOS 8 or older
- Windows Phone ( WhatsApp stopped supporting these devices in 2019)
- Android versions older than 2.3.7 ( Android phones running the Gingerbread version are affected, including those on Huawei ideos
- Nokia Symbian S60. ( Most Nokia devices that were released around the year 2000 are affected
- BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10.
In case you are affected by these update, WhatsApp advises you to move to new device with these as the least requirements
- Android running OS 4.0+
- iPhone running iOS 8+
Whatsapp is one of the leading messaging Apps with a current 1.5 billion strong subscriber base globally. Users on this platform exchange an average of 60 billion messages per day and this goes to explain the significant impact these changes will have on the user.
