From Friday, January 1, 2020, WhatsApp will be prevented from working on millions of phones, and yours may be included.
According to a report from Yahoo News, a new update will prevent the messaging app from working on older Android and iPhone devices, as they will no longer support the latest version of the app.
This development, Newsrand understands will force owners of the phones to either update their mobile operating system or buy a new smartphone.
Any iPhone not running iOS 9 or newer, or any phone not running at least Android 4.0.3 – also known as Ice Cream Sandwich – will no longer be able to open or operate the Facebook-owned app.
This means all iPhone models up to the iPhone 4 will be unable to support WhatsApp, as these phones are not capable of updating to iOS 9.
The iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6S were all released before iOS 9, however, owners can still update to the operating system if they are yet to do so.
Android phones that will lose WhatsApp support include the Samsung Galaxy S2, HTC Desire, and LG Optimus Black.
Phone owners can see what software their device is using by checking the settings section. For iPhone users, this can be found under Settings > General > Software update.
Most of the 2 billion WhatsApp users around the world will not be hit by the change, though the small fraction is likely to comprise several million people worldwide.
A similar update at the start of 2020 saw WhatsApp make the “tough decision” of ending support for even older phones.
Below are phones Whatsapp will no longer work on:
- Apple iPhone 1-4
- Samsung Galaxy S2
- HTC Desire
- LG Optimus Black
- Motorola Droid Razr
- Any Android released before 2010
Phones that will need to update:
- Apple iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 5S
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6S
- Samsung Galaxy S3 and newer
- Samsung Galaxy Note
- HTC Sensation
- HTC Thunderbolt
- LG Lucid
- Motorola Droid 4
- Sony Xperia Pro and newer
