WhatsApp support for older mobiles is coming to an end this means that if you own any smartphone running Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, Windows Phone 7, the iPhone 3GS and or any other iPhone still on iOS 6.
The decision isn’t an immediate one and the messaging company has been revealing its plans for culling support for older mobiles and smartphones since the beginning of the year. First it revealed that it will be stopping support for older smartphones including earliest versions of Android, iPhone, Nokia, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7 by end of 2016. Then it later changed the timeline stating that for it will be extending the deadline for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 until June 30, 2017.
The latest 2016 end of support will mean that 0.1 per cent devices running on Android Froyo will not support WhatsApp anymore. This means that if your smartphone has Android Ice-cream sandwich or Jelly Bean you don’t need to worry for now. As far as iOS / iPhones are concerned, all those devices running iOS 6 need to take adequate steps to continue using WhatsApp. This means that either you need to upgrade to iOS 7 or above or get a new iPhone that supports a higher iOS or shift to Android.
As far as Windows Phone owners are concerned, Windows 7 mobile owners will have to shift to another OS or higher Windows Phone version.
WhatsApp has extended support for BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, Symbian S60 and BBOS till June 2017, but that’s just six odd months from now and if you own any of these smartphones, you need to start thinking.
Why is WhatsApp culling support for older mobiles? According to WhatsApp’s older blog, the reason for ending support was that these phones don’t “offer the kind of capabilities” they need to expand the app’s features.
Leave a Reply