HIGHLIGHTS
.WhatsApp will end support for Windows Phone OS starting January 1, 2020
.The application will also pull support for certain iOS and Android versions from February 2020
.The withdrawl of support will see WhatsApp stop working on thousands of devices
WhatsApp today has not only become the biggest instant messaging service in the world, but has also become an essential part of most of our daily live. From entry level devices, to premium flagships, WhatsApp today finds place almost on all smartphones today and its reach spans even the far reaches of the planet.
But starting next year, a number of smartphones will lose support for the popular messaging application as its developers will be pulling support for certain operating systems that they deem outdated.
While not ideal, support for these OS’is being dropped to ensure that WhatsApp can provide a streamlined experiences on all devices it’s installed on and can bring to them new features that many of these OS’and their phones may not be able to extend to users.
WhatsApp usually carries out such exercises where it adds and removes support for smartphones and operating systems, however, the one that will be carried out at the end of this year will involve the company drop support for thousands of smartphones that run certain older versions of Android, iOS and Windows Phone OS.
The application will drop support for Windows phones on December 31, and will stop developing for the operating system. The shutdown thus will affect Nokia Lumia devices, the last to use the Microsoft-made Windows operating system.
However, the Facebook-owned messaging service won’t just stop there. After ending support for Windows Phone OS WhatsApp has announced that it will also pull support for Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 won’t be able to run the application starting February 2020. That means no more updates and no more sending or receiving messages through the app.
Additionally, iPhones running iOS 8 and older versions will stop receiving support in February too. Users of these iPhone models have already lost the ability to make new accounts on these devices from a long time and now, they won’t be able to use the app anymore.
This, however, isn’t the first time WhatsApp is withdrawing support for devices. Earlier, withdrew support for devices running older operating systems such as the Nokia Symbian S60, Nokia Series 40 operating systems, BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Android 2.1 and 2.2, Windows Phone 7, and iPhone 3GS and iOS 6.
Regarding these changes, WhatsApp said: This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.
