It may sound like the wrong day of the year to be checking lists but there is one list all WhatsApp users will want to check before New Year’s Eve. It may not be a happy new year for some WhatsApp users who may be unable to send their love and best wishes at midnight to family and friends. WhatsApp have just announced that it will no longer work on several phones.
The company made the announcement earlier on this year and the reason WhatsApp have given for certain devices no longer being able to use the messaging app is, so they can focus on the IOS and Android platform.
If you own any BlackBerry device that runs a BlackBerry OS or BlackBerry 10 from the 1st January 2018 it will no longer work. During 2017, BlackBerry has begun moving across to Android, however earlier models still run off BlackBerrys own software. It isn’t just BlackBerry that will be affected. If you own a phone that uses Microsoft Window 8.0 (or earlier versions) OS will not be supported. If you are using one of the affected models, you will need to upgrade to a newer OS to ensure ongoing support.
WhatsApp extended its support for BlackBerry giving users more time than they previously anticipated. They have also announced that they have extended the support for Nokia S40 for another year up to 31st December 2018 and any devices running Android 2.3.7 and older until 1st February 2020. Unfortunately, these platforms don’t have the capabilities WhatsApp needs to support its future app features.
The popular messaging app launched in 2009 and has over a billion users and due to it being supported cross-platform it has become the most popular messaging platform in the world. It was bought by Facebook for $19bn in 2014. In 2016 Facebook was charged with misleading EU regulators in regard to how they combined phone numbers from WhatsApp and social media data.
Due to technology continually changing WhatsApp needed to phase out compatibility to ensure users security is up to date. When WhatsApp first appeared on the market back in 2009, a huge percentage of smartphone purchases had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. During that time only, a small percentage of handsets purchased were Google, Apple and Microsoft.
