WhatsApp stops working on millions of old phones this month - see if yours is on the list
by Buzz ContributorWhatsApp users be warned, the popular smartphone app could stop working on your mobile soon as the chat app looks to streamline its service in 2020.
As is customary for many phone apps, the Facebook-owned WhatsApp app is also preparing to cull a wide range of older model phones who it will no longer support moving forward.
A Whats-App support page has confirmed that it will stop supporting certain devices on December 31, 2019. That being said the iOS and Android blocks for certain devices won’t happen in full until closer to February 1, 2020.
So you should still be able to send that all-important "Happy New Year" message on New Years Day, but as WhatsApp warns, "some features may stop functioning at any time."
As such, the only solution faced by smartphone users impacted will be to simply upgrade their handset if they wish to continue using the service. beyond the 2020 dates mentioned.
What Phones Will Stop Working?
There's a widespread of phones impacted by the announcement, but the users who will most likely be impacted are those with an iPhone running software older than iOS 7.
That means that those with an iPhone 5S and 5C are most likely to be impacted from an Apple standpoint.
Likewise, any Android device which is still running version 2.3.7 will also find themselves impacted, with Windows Phone users the worst hit, as access will completely stop on December 31, 2019
A full list of smartphones that will no longer be supported can be found just below, as per an update posted to the WhatsApp support page recently.
Smartphones that will soon stop supporting WhatsApp include:
• Nokia Symbian S60 after June 30, 2017
• BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 after December 31, 2017
• Nokia S40 after December 31, 2018
• All Windows Phone operating systems after December 31, 2019
• Android versions 2.3.7 and older after February 1, 2020
• iPhone iOS 7 and older after February 1, 2020
WhatsApp says that anyone using these older phones can no longer create new accounts or reverify existing accounts.
‘Because we no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time,’ the company said in a blog post announcing the cut-off dates.