WhatsApp Will Stop Working on Millions of Older Phones from 1 Jan 2021

It may be a personal preference to continue using your phone model way past its relevant or contractual date, but it appears that the notion may soon work against you.

Or at least, if you fancy yourself as an avid WhatsApp user.

Curious why? Well, you only have to look at the following piece to find out.

WhatsApp Will Stop Working on Millions of Older Phones from 1 Jan 2021

Popular messaging platform WhatsApp will cease work on millions of phones around the globe from 1 January onwards.

Older phones will be affected, and users will need to update their software to continue using the application.

Those who refuse to update their software, or are unable to, will not be able to access the app.

Apparently, WhatsApp will fail to work for any iPhone device that has yet to be updated to iOS9 or higher.

For Android users, those without 4.0.3 Android or newer will be left in the dust.

Inability To Update

According to News18, those with iPhone 4 models will not be able to attain the latest software update.

Individuals with Android devices such as the Motorola Droid Razr and the Samsung Galaxy S2 will face the same problem as well.

To continue using WhatsApp, they would have to upgrade their phone models in order to update to more recent software.

This would certainly be a huge slap in the face for those who highly value their memory-filled phone models, or are unable to afford the eligible models.

How Do I Check?

If you’re curious whether you fall inside the “ostracised” bracket, you can check out the following steps.

For Apple users, you can go to your Settings, then “General” and “About” to know about the software model you’re currently using, and whether you’re required to update.

For Android users, you can go to your Settings and tap on “About Phone”.

According to nzherald.co.nz, WhatsApp will remind users if they are required to update their software to continue usage of the application.

In any case, it’s always better to upgrade to the latest version of your software, whether it’s your OS or simply any app, as outdated versions of any software might have security issues.

Previously Announced

Though startling in nature, the announcement has actually been unveiled for quite some time.

Since 31 December 2018, the application has reportedly stopped working on several Nokia models.

And sometime back, WhatsApp announced that they’re going to stop supporting iPhones running on iOS 7. Android phones running 2.3.7 or older will not be able to run WhatsApp as well.

It should be noted, however, that the exact date given at the time was 1 Feb 2020. It appears that the sentence has been postponed by nearly an entire year – a notion that’s possibly attributable to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Whatsapp previously stated that it was a difficult decision to make. However, they expressed that they had to do it in order to optimise the service delivery they can give to their users.

“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.”

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