WhatsApp Is About To Stop Working For Millions Of Users

Yo, WhatsApp? If you're talking about the popular messaging application then not much, as it is to stop running on millions of smartphones from today. Apologies for the really bad joke at the start that you may or may have not got, by the way.

Credit: PA

It is the world's most popular messaging app, with over a billion users, but the company says that changes in technology mean it has to phase out compatibility with older phones.

"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," a spokesperson said.

The Facebook-owned company set a deadline of the end of 2016 for services that will no longer be supported, so it's time to act now if any of the below applies to you.

Apple

WhatsApp will stop working on any iPhone 3GS - the second generation handset that was released in 2009. And it will also stop being supported on any device running iOS 6, so potentially any iPhone 4, 4S, or 5 that hasn't been updated to the newest version of the operating system - iOS 9.3 will no longer be able to run it. You must update to iOS10.

Android

Any phones or tablets running Android 2.1 or 2.2 will no longer be supported. This covers devices released between May 2010 and November 2011 from a range of manufacturers.

Windows Phone

Let's be honest, there's something wrong with you if you have one of these phones so who cares.

BlackBerry and Nokia

WhatsApp was planning to remove support for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60. However, it has had a change of heart and is extending its support period for these devices into 2017.

An update on the official blog says that these devices will be supported until June 30, 2017.

Featured image credit: PA