WhatsApp is moving on. It's changing with the times. It's getting with the programme.
Having recently celebrated its seventh birthday, the instant messaging service has taken to its blog with the announcement of a "tough decision": if you're still using one of these mobile phones, your WhatsApp Messenger service will stop working at the end of the year:
- BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10
- Nokia S40
- Nokia Symbian S60
- Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
- Windows Phone 7.1
"When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people's use of mobile devices looked very different from today," explains the blog post. "The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 per cent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft - which account for 99.5 per cent of sales today - were on less than 25 per cent of mobile devices sold at the time."
The app creators suggest you upgrade to a newer device - but we say no. Stick with your old, faithful mobile. Shrug off the shackles of constant contact. Take up the lost art of letter writing. Write some poetry. Don't let the tech man tell you how to live your life.
