Don’t panic yet. We all have time until February 1, 2020. Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014 and aims to integrate the messaging platform into its other services Messenger and Instagram.
WhatsApp will stop working on millions of older mobile devices globally as the company has withdrawn support for such phones. The users on Windows Phones will be locked out forever after December 31, said Facebook.
"WhatsApp will stop working on millions of phones in the next couple of months as the company withdraws support for some older mobile platforms. From February 1, 2020, any iPhone running iOS 8 or older will no longer be supported, along with any Android device running version 2.3.7 or older," claimed the site. Users of these operating systems are already unable to create new WhatsApp accounts or re-verify existing accounts.
"Furthermore, 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. WhatsApp has been gradually phasing out support for various smartphone platforms that 'don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future'." the social networking platform added.
Select phones running Linux-operated KaiOS 2.5.1 and older, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2, are also still supported.
In fact, on their FAQ section, the company states: “Because we no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time.” It goes on to state the following:-
For the following operating systems, you can no longer create new accounts, nor reverify existing accounts. However, you'll be able to continue using WhatsApp on:
*Android versions 2.3.7 and older until February 1, 2020
*iOS 8 and older until February 1, 2020
*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.
Edited from an IANS report