WhatsApp, the leading provider of instant messaging services in the world, has some bad news for users of the app on BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40/S60 and other older mobile operating systems.
Through a company blog, the Facebook-owned app revealed that it will no longer support all BlackBerry devices, the veteran Nokia Symbian S40/S60, older versions of Android 2.1 and 2.2 as well as Windows Phone 7.1.
According to the company, the main reason behind this discontinuation is because these platforms no longer “offer the kind of capabilities” needed to expand the application’s features in the future. Of course, the company also concedes that arriving to this decision wasn’t an easy task for them; however, it is the right one if people are to be presented with better ways of keeping in touch with friends via WhatsApp.
The company’s advice is that all users on older devices should upgrade to newer ones if they want to keep using the chat app.
Bad news for BlackBerry
BlackBerry 10 is the latest operating system from this Canadian company. The company revealed that it will not be producing any smartphone running on this OS in 2016. This is as a result of the move it made last year, releasing the Android-powered BlackBerry Priv, which was received well among enthusiasts. The phone brings back the physical QWERTY keyboard, hiding just beneath the screen and has full support for all Android apps in addition to BlackBerry apps.
This is another huge blow in the face of the company, as WhatsApp, an app that has more than 900 million monthly active users, will no longer be supporting any device running on this OS. At some point, BlackBerry commanded about 70% of the smartphone market, but it now stands at less than 1%, Garnter’s latest research claims. Now that BB is losing support for the most popular messaging app, it is such a huge loss for the company.
WhatsApp users on BB10, Android 2.1/2.2 and Nokia devices have 10 months
The announcement by WhatsApp that it will no longer be supporting older versions of various mobile operating systems doesn’t take effect until the beginning of 2017. This means that those using the chat app on the affected platforms have just 10 months before they are forced to upgrade to a newer gadget.
Unless you don’t want to keep chatting with your friends and loved ones on their most favorite platform, there is no reason to keep using an older device.