WhatsApp recently announced it’s dropping support for some old smartphone platforms but most of the users don’t need to worry about it. Here’s why.
- WhatsApp recently dropped support for older OS platforms.
- Windows Phone devices won’t support WhatsApp from January 1, 2020.
- Android 2.3.7 devices and iPhones with iOS 8 won’t support WhatsApp from February 1.
WhatsApp keeps on getting new features every now and then to offer a better experience with every succeeding version of Android or iOS.
Developers keep in mind the newer platforms while building these new features and hence, they eventually drop support for the older platforms that are barely in use. Now, as 2019 ends, the WhatsApp official support page says that it is going to drop support for a couple of older platforms and that could mean no WhatsApp for some of you. However, there’s no need to panic yet.
WhatsApp will drop support for one obsolete OS platform and stop supporting older versions of Android and iOS.
Microsoft recently dropped support for its Windows Phone support and WhatsApp announced shortly after that all Windows Phone devices won’t support WhatsApp starting January 1, 2020, Hence, if you are still using Windows Phone device, WhatsApp will stop working completely on your phone and you won’t be able to send or receive messages.
The same stands for some older Android and iOS devices. All Android devices running on Android 2.3.7 and older won’t support WhatsApp anymore from February 1, 2020.
Similarly, all iPhones that are still running on iOS 8 and older will not support WhatsApp anymore. Hence, if you are using any phone that’s running these versions of Android and iOS, WhatsApp won’t work on these phones.
However, there’s no reason to worry about the end of support for WhatsApp on these phones. Windows Phones are quite scarce and are rarely seen in the public.
The Windows Phone platform has been technically dead for long with many app developers withdrawing support for the platform for a long time. Hence, those using basic apps won’t be able to live with a Windows Phone device in 2019.
The same stands for Android 2.3.7 and iOS 8 devices. Most users upgrade phones every two years and even if you last upgraded your Android phone two years ago, chances are that your phone must be Android 8.0 Oreo, which will continue to receive support from WhatsApp for years to come.
As for devices running iOS 8, you will have to be on an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S and even then, you can still use WhatsApp on these as the iPhone 4 series got the iOS 9 as its last OS upgrade.
Hence, chances are that you may already be using a phone that’s on a more modern version of Android and iOS, even if you don’t upgrade frequently.
This is why WhatsApp dropping support for some old phones may not even affect you at the most. If you upgraded to any 2019 phone, you are good to go for the next five years easily before app developers persuade you to upgrade.
That said, if you still use Windows Phone, you should switch to an Android phone or any of the new iPhone models.
If you happen to use any Android phone with Android 2.3.7 or iPhone with iOS 8 or older, then you should upgrade to a new phone as soon as possible to keep using WhatsApp.