WhatsApp is about to stop working for millions of smartphone users
And it's bad news for Nokia or Blackberry users
Millions of WhatsApp users will need to upgrade their mobiles phones by the end of the year, as changes in the messaging app’s technology means it will soon be incompatible with older phones – and completely unavailable to Blackberry and Nokia users.
WhatsApp – which has over 1 billion users worldwide – says it has seen huge changes across tech platforms since it launched in 2009. According to the official statement, Blackberry and Nokia accounted for 70 per cent of operating systems at the time.
Conversely, Google, Apple, and Microsoft were on less than 25 per cent of mobile devices at the time, but now account for 99.5 per cent of mobile sales.
To reflect the change in technology, WhatsApp Messenger will cease working on BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 by June 2017.
It will also stop supporting Android 2.1 and 2.2, Windows Phone 7, and iPhone 3GS/iOS 6 by the end of this year.
“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future,” says WhatsApp.
“This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp. If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.”
You might want to write to Santa asking for a new phone this Christmas. Or WhatsApp him, while you still can.
In the meantime, check out all these things you never knew you could do with WhatsApp.
