WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, has announced that it will stop working on phones running on Android 8.0 Oreo and above starting December 31st. The company says that this is to “keep our users safe.”
The company’s CEO, Jan Koum, made the announcement today in a Facebook post. He also explained why he believes the company needs to take this step: “We have seen changes in the way people use their devices and we have to adapt accordingly.”
When asked about how WhatsApp plans to deal with users who may not be able to upgrade their devices before December 31st, Koum said that WhatsApp will “make sure” they can continue using the service after that date.
Android 8.0 Oreo is currently available on only a handful of smartphones—including Google’s own Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The company recently announced that it will no longer support several models of phones including the Nokia 6, Nokia 3, and Nokia 2.
This is a big deal for users. If you own one of these models and want to keep using WhatsApp, you’ll have to upgrade your phone as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to know which model your phone is until you get it—which means you might have to buy a new phone before you do anything else!
They says that it has been working with manufacturers and carriers to provide updates before they become mandatory, but we can only hope that they succeed. We know that many people rely on their phones for work or school purposes, so this could leave them without access to important WhatsApp features like group messaging or voice calls until they get new devices.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps around, but if you’re on an older phone, it might not be long before you’re out of luck. The company announced that it will stop supporting some of its older phones by the end of December.
While this isn’t a huge deal for most people—the company says more than 1 billion people use its service on these older phones—it could have major impacts on businesses that rely heavily on text messaging for customer service and other purposes.
In addition to ending support for these older phones, WhatsApp is also changing how notifications work on these devices. If you don’t have a newer model phone, WhatsApp will no longer display notifications from your friends or groups while they are offline—you’ll only see them when they are online again or when they send a message to you via another platform (like Facebook Messenger).
WhatsApp’s new announcement regarding smartphones, WhatsApp will stop working on these smartphones after December 31. This is the last chance for users who have recently updated their phones and have not responded to the latest update.
The WhatsApp team has announced that they are ceasing support for nearly all of the older models of Android and iOS devices to focus on providing a better experience for their users on newer devices. This means that if you own one of these older models, you should expect them to stop working in just over two months.
You can check if your phone is affected by visiting this page: https://www.whatsapp.com/android-iphone-tablet
