WhatsApp ends support for older devices every year. This includes smartphones running dated versions of Android and iOS. This time too, WhatsApp will reportedly end support for iPhones and Android phones in 2021.
WhatsApp currently supports smartphones running Android 4.3 or older, and iOS 9 or older. According to a report by News18, WhatsApp will retire these Android and iOS versions. This means that phones running Android 4.3 or below, and iOS 9 or below will no longer be able to support WhatsApp. An official announcement from WhatsApp is yet to be released.
Earlier this year in February, WhatsApp ended support for phones running Android version 2.3.7 and older, and iOS 8 and older. The same is expected to take place in early 2021 with WhatsApp removing one more Android and iOS version from its support.
Android 4.3 is quite old, and dates back to 2012 when it was launched. Apple released iOS 9 back in 2015. The latest operating system versions are Android 11 and iOS 14. The user group on these older Android and iOS versions will most likely be small but it will still affect that number of users. Also considering the fact that WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app globally.
WhatsApp is yet to announce if it will end support for these Android devices and iPhones. But it would be a good time to check if you’re still using an old phone that’s running on Android 4.3 or iOS 9. You can do this by going to Settings > General > About to see the software version on iPhones. Android users can also check the ‘About Phone’ section under the settings menu.
In order to find out your current operating system for phone, iPhone users can go to Settings > General > About, to find out the iOS version.
For Android users, you can go to Settings and then on About Phone (which is probably at the end of the section) to see which Android version your smartphone is running on.
Every year-end, WhatsApp ends support for older iOS and Android smartphones. In 2020 beginning, WhatsApp stopped working for Android phones running on Android 2.3.7 operating system and lower as well as iPhones running on iOS 8 and lower.
It also stressed on the fact that these older versions of Android and iOS operating systems “can no longer create new accounts, nor re-verify existing accounts after February 1, 2020 ( With inputs from agencies)