After WhatsApp revealed that it will stop supporting older devices, the messaging app will soon stop operating on millions of phones.
On its support page, the Facebook-owned company revealed that smartphones would no longer be able to access the app, claiming that the move was necessary to ensure its users ’ security.
This affects different versions of Android, iOS and Windows Phone, with the official support period ending on February 1, 2020.
WhatsApp will no longer work on iPhones running iOS 8 or earlier, which Apple released in 2014 for the first time.
It means that anyone with an iPhone 6 or older won’t have to worry about missing WhatsApp.
“We recommend using the latest iOS version available for your phone for the best experience,” WhatsApp said in a blog post.
Android phones with an older version than 2.3.3-also known as Gingerbread-will also no longer be supported and anyone trying to create a new account or search an existing account with older Androids will be blocked.
Android Gingerbread was released in 2010, so Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Google smartphones are safe from the assault for nearly a decade.
WhatsApp will continue to support Windows Phones running the Windows Phone 8.1 mobile operating system or beyond.
Any affected WhatsApp users could upgrade their OS technically to continue to use WhatsApp, however many older phone models will either have trouble running new operating systems or simply not allow them to be enabled.
It is not the first time that WhatsApp ends support for older devices and has previously described it as a “Tough Decision” to cut off users in the interests of security and usability.