WhatsApp has updated its support page to drop support for iPhones running on Apple’s five-year-old software.
If you haven’t upgraded your iPhone in years, you may lose access to WhatsApp soon. The instant messaging company has now made it compulsory for new and existing iPhone users to have at least iOS 9 their device to run WhatsApp.https://bit.ly/2mQESlb
If you’re still on iOS 8, which by the way rolled out in 2014, you will not be able to create new accounts or reverify existing accounts. The change comes into effect on February 2, 2020. This means iOS 8 users can continue to use WhatsApp with no interruption until February 1 next year. The change in policy was spotted by WABetainfo. It is a website that regularly tracks the changes in the messaging app.
About the WhatsApp Features
WhatsApp has been adding up new features regularly. Some of these features require powerful phones and newer Android and iOS versions to function properly. These Features are resource heavy and require powerful phones with enough RAM and newer OS. These features include playing videos directly inside the chat window, fingerprint authentications etc. WhatsApp has said that some of the phones won’t be able to support the feature that it plans to bring in future and that is why it is ending the support for them.
WhatsApp’s latest update is likely to impact very few users as most of the iPhone users have already upgraded to the newer iOS 12. With the iOS 13, the number of iPhone users running older generation software is likely to shrink further.
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This is not the first time WhatsApp has dropped support for the older generation of mobile operating systems. Earlier, WhatsApp said it will drop support for Windows Phone-based smartphones after December 31, 2019. The company has also ended support for older mobile operating systems such as Nokia S40, Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread and older. Android 2.3.7 users can however continue to use the app until February 1, 2020.
