WhatsApp is Ending Support for Older Smartphones Running iOS 8 and Android Gingerbread

WhatsApp is one of the most popular text messaging application for mobile devices irrespective of the software platform. Earlier today, the Facebook-owned company announced that the application will no longer support the old and legacy operating systems. These include the smartphones running on iOS 8 and Android Gingerbread. Furthermore, the company has ended the support for all Windows Phone versions for the good starting from tomorrow. To recall, iOS 8 was debuted in September 2014 while the Android Gingerbread was first released in 2010.

For the users who are still using these software versions, the company requested to upgrade the software or switch to the latest operating system by February 2020. After the announced date, the official support for WhatsApp will end. iOS users who are still rocking iOS 8 will have to update to the latest software if available. If not, the users will have to buy a new device with iOS 9 or higher. For the best possible user experience, the company is recommending the latest iOS 13.1.

It is worth mentioning that the app will still work on the older devices but the users will no longer be able to register or re-verify accounts. Eventually, the entire support on these versions should cease after a few days or weeks. WhatsApp has also talked about the jailbroken devices in this announcement. Although the company doesn’t explicitly restrict the use of jailbroken or modified devices, the brand still does not recommend it. Since such modifications affect the device’s functionality, the company will no longer give the support to jailbroken iPhones.

“We don’t explicitly restrict the use of jailbroken or unlocked devices. However, because these modifications might affect the functionality of your device, we can’t provide support for devices using modified versions of the iPhone’s operating system”, said WhatsApp

In another related news, Google recently announced the support of WhatsApp allowing users to read or reply to the messages using the Assistant.