Why Whatsapp has stopped working on old phones
WhatsApp is reported to have stopped working on millions of older phones.
The Facebook-owned messaging app stopped support for older versions of both the iOS and Android operating systems.
That means they will no longer receive security and software support which could result in bugs or security exploits.
If you’ve got one of the older models affected and want to keep using WhatsApp, you’ll need to update your operating system.
According to an announcement by WhatsApp, it will no longer support Android devices, which are running the operating system OS 4.0.4, which was called Ice Cream Sandwich or ICS by Google, from November 1, 2021.
Also, if you have an iPhone, you would need to have an iOS 10 or newer operating system to be able to use WhatsApp, as the platform does not support devices running software versions released before iOS 10.
In some cases, you may need to update your entire phone.
WhatsApp has stopped working on up to 43 different smartphone models as it shifts the requirements.
In order to continue using the application, the user won’t have any choice but to get a new device with support for the app. The users can back up their chat history before moving to the new device in order to retain all chats and media.
The minimum requirement to run WhatsApp will be limited to iOS 10 and newer versions. Any iPhone running on operating systems older than iOS 10 will not work from November 1. Devices such as iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, Apple iPhone SE (1st generation) will stop supporting the messaging application.
While switching to new devices, users are advised to take a backup of their chats and other data to continue using the app with the least amount of interruption.