Meta-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp is likely to stop working on millions of phones, including some versions of iPhones. According to reports, those using older iPhone and Android handsets won't be able to access the app without an upgrade after December 31.
WhatsApp will no longer work on at least 49 different phone brands, including the iPhone 5 or iPhone 5c and various Huawei, LG, Sony, and Samsung devices. Beginning December 31, Meta will stop releasing updates, which will halt WhatsApp service on millions of smartphones still in use across the world. However, WhatsApp will send a warning to users of those phones before it stops functioning.
Change Before It Stops
The news initially was believed to be fake by many but their doubts were cleared after the messaging app sent an alert before going ahead with the major change. "Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates," the messaging app said.
"These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp."
"To choose what to stop supporting, every year we, like other technology companies, look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest number of people still using them."
Those using iPhones, need to go to the "general" settings and choose "software update" to update their operating system.
If the device cannot run the latest software one will need a newer smartphone.
WhatsApp's compatibility with iPhones running iOS 11 and earlier versions was discontinued in October. "To keep up with the latest advances in tech, we routinely stop supporting older operating systems to point our resources to supporting the latest ones," the messaging service said.
Here's the list of phones that won't support WhatsApp after December 31.
WhatsApp Making Innovations
WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging apps worldwide. The free messaging service offered by WhatsApp is used by millions of users each day to have discussions throughout the world.
The popularity of WhatsApp can be ascribed to the end-to-end encryption it uses to handle its high level of security.
WhatsApp introduced a new feature called "Message Yourself" in November, which, as the name implies, enables you to send notes, reminders, and updates to yourself. With this feature, users may initiate a 1:1 chat within the WhatsApp app on both Android and iPhone.
It enables users to send notes, reminders, or shopping lists to oneself as well as keep track of their to-do lists.
Prior to that, WhatsApp introduced Communities, a new feature that allows you to message many groups at once. Users can exchange updates across many group conversations by grouping them under a single subject and using the tool to do so.
