WhatsApp, Meta's messaging service application, will ring in the New Year by discontinuing support for some older smartphones, including Apple's iPhones, Samsung and Huawei phones, on Sunday, January 1.
Some 49 older smartphone models — those in question now were released about a decade ago — will no longer be supported by the service, which means that Whatsapp updates will no longer be possible on devices running an operating system older than Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and all iPhones that have not yet run iOS 12.
This change means that the company will no longer support these devices with updates, which means that bugs and other issues may arise over time with no solution available.
If the app's functionality is jeopardized, users will receive an alert from Whatsapp.
When deciding which devices to stop supporting, the company considered which devices and software were the oldest and had the fewest people still using them, according to the company.
On smartphones, the current version of Android can be found by launching the Settings app and going to the 'System' or 'About' menu. Users of Apple phones can check this by going to Settings, selecting 'General,' and then tapping on 'About'. It's possible that newer software updates are available, allowing you to use WhatsApp as usual.
WhatsApp stopped working for people who owned Android phones running Android 4.0.3 or older or Apple iPhones running iOS 9 or older in November of last year, totaling 43 smartphone models.
The following is a complete list of phones that will no longer be supported beginning January 1, 2023.
Apple's iPhone 5 and 5c;
Archos Platinum 53;
ZTE Grand S Flex and ZTE Grand X Quad V987;
The HTC Desire 500;
Huawei Ascend D, Huawei Ascend D2, Huawei Ascend G740, Huawei Ascend Mate, and Huawei Ascend P1.
XL Quad;
A820 Lenovo;
LG Enact, LG Lucid 2, LG Optimus 4X HD, LG Optimus F3, LG Optimus F3Q, LG Optimus F5, LG Optimus F6, LG Optimus F7, LG Optimus L2 II, LG Optimus L3 II Dual, LG Optimus L4 II, LG Optimus L4 II Dual, LG Optimus L5, LG Optimus L5 Dual, LG Optimus L5 II
LG Optimus L7 II, LG Optimus L7 II Dual, and LG Optimus Nitro HD are all available.
Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Samsung Galaxy Core, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, Samsung Galaxy Trend II, Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite, and Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 are all examples of Samsung smartphones.
Sony Xperia Arc S, Sony Xperia Miro, and Sony Xperia Neo L are the three models.
Wiko Darknight ZT and Wiko Cink Five.