WhatsApp has announced that it will completely abandon a range of smartphones, as it will stop working on certain devices and operating systems by the beginning of 2020.
For some legacy operating systems, users will not be able to create new accounts or re-verify existing accounts.
The WhatsApp FAQ page lists phones and operating systems that IM will not be running by February 2020. The Chat app via its FAQ page reported that all Android phones running Android 2.3.7 and iPhones IOS 7 will not support WhatsApp by February 1, 2020.
The company also said, “WhatsApp will no longer be available in the Microsoft store by July 1, 2020, and users of all operating systems Windows Phone after December 31, 2020, will not be able to use the application”.
However, WhatsApp has made clear that its decision to end Facebook-owned app support for Android and iPhone will not affect many users, and only those who are still using older Android and iPhone phones will be affected.
According to a tweet posted by WABetainfo, WhatsApp will also not support iOS 8 or older devices.
However, users can still use the app on iOS 8, but they will no longer be able to verify the account if they reinstall it. Support for iOS 8 will be completely removed on February 1. 2020.
In an update to FAQs, WhatsApp asks users to use phones running 2.5.1+, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2.
WhatsApp and Reliance Jio worked together to provide support for WhatsApp on JioPhone and JioPhone 2 last year.
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The messaging app regularly adds new features, some of which require powerful phones and newer Android and iOS versions to work properly, such as video playback directly within the chat window, and fingerprint authentication.
WhatsApp said, Some phones will not be able to support the features that it intends to launch in the future, which is why they terminate support for these devices. “We are no longer actively developing versions of these operating systems, and some features may stop working at any time. If you are currently using an older operating system, we recommend upgrading to a newer version.”
