On December 31st, WhatsApp ends support for nearly 49 smartphone models.
Bad news for people who still use the same phone that they’ve had for 10 years. On December 31st, WhatsApp is ending support for a lot of old smartphone models. This includes Apple, Samsung and other brands.
Every year
Even though it sounds troubling, ending support for older phone models is something WhatsApp does every year. But for some people this still might cause issues. Especially for the people who don’t replace their phone every two years. WhatsApp is ending support for models from bigger brands like Apple and Samsung, Sony, Huawei and LG and some smaller brands like Grand, Archos, HTC and Wiko. The upside: a lot of these models are very old and chances are that a lot of them aren’t being used anymore.
Updates
WhatsApp ending support for older smartphone models means that if you use one of the models listed below, you won’t be able to update your WhatsApp. This will eventually cause the service to stop working altogether. On their FAQ panel, WhatsApp states that “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.”
Users with a phone that will not be supported anymore will receive a warning, telling them that the app won’t work for them anymore. If you want to keep using WhatsApp, you would have to purchase a model that supports iOS 12 or Android 1.4.
Smartphone models
A list of the models that won’t be able to update and use WhatsApp anymore, according to NU.nl, can be found below:
- Apple: iPhone 5, iPhone 5c
- Huawei: Ascend D, Ascend D1, Ascend D2, Ascend G740, Ascend Mate, Ascend P1
- Samsung: Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy Core, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy Trend II, Galaxy Trend Lite, Galaxy Xcover 2
- LG: LG Enact, Lucid 2, Optimus 4X HD, Optimus F3, Optimus F3Q, Optimus F5, Optimus F6, Optimus F7, Optimus L2 II, Optimus L3 II, Optimus L3 II Dual, Optimus L4 II, Optimus L4 II Dual, Optimus L5, Optimus L5 Dual, Optimus L5 II, Optimus L7, Optimus L7 II, Optimus L7 II Dual, Optimus Nitro HD
- Sony: Xperia Arc S, Xperia miro, Xperia Neo L
- Archos 53 Platinum
- Grand S Flex ZTE
- Grand X Quad V987 ZTE
- HTC Desire 500
- Lenovo A820
- Memo ZTE V956
- Wiko Cink Five
- Wiko Darknight ZT
- Quad XL
If your phone is on this list, you might want to see if it is time to finally say goodbye to your old device and replace it with a (slightly) newer gadget.
Also read: 4 Ways hackers can use your phone number
Source: Newsfirst, Business Today, NU.nl, FAQ WhatsApp | Image: Unsplash, Mika Baumeister