New Delhi: WhatsApp is revamping itself and doing away with several operating systems in 2020. Its updated FAQ states, Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 operating system and lower, and iPhones running on iOS 8 and lower will not be compatible with WhatsApp from next year.
Also, older versions of Android and iOS operating systems “can no longer create new accounts, nor re-verify existing accounts after February 1, 2020”.
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.
For Windows OS users, as announced earlier, WhatsApp is withdrawing support for all Windows phones from December 31, 2019 — the same month that Microsoft ends support of its Windows 10 Mobile OS.
However, the instant messaging platform will keep the app running for select phones with KaiOS 2.5.1+ OS, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2.
Previously Whatsapp has discontinued its services with these following phones, Nokia Symbian S60, BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, among others.
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.
List of operating systems that won’t support WhatsApp from February 1, 2020
- All phones running Android 2.3.7 and older
- All iPhones running iOS 8 and older
- All phones featuring Windows OS
WhatsApp is experimenting a lot with its dark theme. Recently rolled out the feature for Android beta users and plans to introduce it for the Ios users. Android users can access the feature by enrolling for the Beta program through Google Play or if they are using WhatsApp Beta for Android, the dark mode is easily installable in less than five minutes.
Along with it, WhatsApp also introduced some animated stickers for the users.
