some months ago WhatsApp announced that the app will not stop working on Windows phone by the end of this year. This came as a shock to many Windows phone users across the world as the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform aka WhatsApp is an integral part of everyone’s life today. A day without WhatsApp is difficult to imagine. WhatsApp now brings bad news for some Android and iPhone users. According to WhatsApp’s updated FAQs, the instant messaging app will no longer work for some of Android and iPhone users after February 2020.
The WhatsApp FAQs clearly informs that all Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 operating system and iPhones running on iOS 7 will not support WhatsApp February 1, 2020, onwards. The updated FAQs noted that users of Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 version and iPhones running on iOS 7 “can no longer create new accounts, nor re-verify existing accounts” after February 1, 2020. The Facebook-owned instant messaging platform further notes that the decision to end WhatsApp support for these Android phones and iPhones will not affect/impact a lot of users.
WhatsApp further notes that users with very old Android phones and iPhones will be the only ones who will be affected this. Considering most smartphone users change their phones in some years, most Android phone and iPhone users need not worry as WhatsApp will continue to work on their phones.
WhatsApp is asking users to use phones that run on Android 4.0.3 or later software version so they are not impacted with the stoppage of service. For the iPhone users, WhatsApp says that phones running on iOS 8 or later should be used to continue the journey with WhatsApp. In the latest/updated FAQ WhatsApp also asks users to use phones running KaiOS 2.5.1+, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2. Reliance Jio and WhatsApp worked together to bring WhatsApp support to JioPhone and JioPhone 2 last year.
To recollect, a couple of months ago, WhatsApp announced that the app will stop working on phones running on the Windows operating system. The company announced that Windows phone users will no longer able to use WhatsApp on their phone post-Dec 31, 2019. In one of the past FAQs WhatsApp noted, “you’ll no longer be able to use all Windows Phone operating systems after December 31, 2019, and WhatsApp might not be available in the Microsoft Store after July 1, 2019.”
