WhatsApp is dropping support for older smartphones that aren’t compatible with its latest features. At least one generation of iPhone, alongside older versions of Android and Windows Phone, will no longer be able to use the service at the end of the year.
Over the past 12 months, WhatsApp has introduced a bunch of killer features that make the platform even more essential — including voice and video calling, end-to-end encryption, and support for bold and italic text.
[contextly_auto_sidebar]But some of these features don’t work on older devices. Now WhatsApp is planning to phase out support for those handsets so that it can focus its efforts on improving its service for devices that are capable of accessing them all.
At least one generation of iPhone — iPhone 3GS — will be affected by the purge. WhatsApp is also dropping support for iOS 6, so iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, and iPhone 5 handsets that are yet to be updated to iOS 7 will also be unable to use the service.
Support is also being dropped for phones and tablets running Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, and Windows Phone 7 by the end of the year. BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, and Nokia Symbian S60 devices will lose support next June.
If you’ve been clinging onto an iPhone 3GS for the nostalgic value, then, it might be time to put a new smartphone on your Christmas wish list.
Via: Daily Mail
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
One response to “WhatsApp is dropping support for older smartphones”
By “unable to use the service”, what do you mean? If you mean that a device •already• running WhatsApp on iOS 6 will no longer work, that’s nuts. There’s absolutely no need for WhatsApp to deny service for devices on iOS 6. WhatsApp works fine for users who prefer that older version, and using it in no way affects the development of future versions of the app. iOS 6 users should be allowed to simply stay with the version they already have.