This archive report was first published on 15 December 2019.
Millions of phone users are facing a looming deadline as WhatsApp prepares to stop working on their devices in the coming months.
The Facebook-owned messenger service has announced that it will no longer support certain older mobile platforms, including iPhones running iOS 8 or older and Android devices running version 2.3.7 or older.
As of February 1, 2020, users of these operating systems will no longer be able to create new WhatsApp accounts or re-verify existing accounts.
Furthermore, WhatsApp is withdrawing support for all Windows phones from December 31, 2019, coinciding with Microsoft's end of support for its Windows 10 Mobile OS.
According to WhatsApp, the decision to phase out support for these platforms is due to the fact that they 'don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future.'
As a result, some features on these devices may stop functioning at any time, as WhatsApp no longer actively develops for these operating systems.
However, users with devices running Android 4.0.3 or later and iPhones running iOS 9 or later will continue to receive support from WhatsApp.
For those still using iOS 8, WhatsApp has assured that they will be able to use the service until February 1, 2020, after which it will no longer be supported.
