The new year could start with a change for some Whatsapp users. From January 1st, the app will no longer work fully on many devices.
Kassel – As always, when a year is coming to an end, you have to come to an agreement deal with changes that come with the turn of the year. Not all are positive in nature. Recently it was reported that some users of the messenger service Whatsapp will no longer be able to use the app as usual from next year. hna.de summarizes.
The reason for the Whatsapp off on January 1, 2023 on some cell phones is said to be software updates. The operating systems of the affected mobile phones are now no longer sufficiently developed, reports tn3.de with reference to the tech blog Gizchina. The operation of the popular messenger service will be discontinued for a total of 49 smartphone models. But is that true? Whatsapp does not create lists of devices that are supported, only operating systems, a spokesman explains mirror.
Cell phones with old operating systems are said to be affected by the Whatsapp shutdown in January
“We currently support the following devices, which we also recommend for using Whatsapp,” it says on the Whatsapp website:
- Android devices from Android version 4.1
- iPhones from iOS 12
- KaiOS phones from KaiOS 2.5.0, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2
Whatsapp soon no longer usable for many? What’s behind the warnings
All older operating systems are therefore not supported. Whatsapp should be loud on iPhones with the iOS 10 and iOS 11 operating systems Gizchina stopped working as of October 24th. In addition, many Android models are affected. Gizchina names, among other things, the following smartphones on which Whatsapp should soon no longer be usable:
- Apple iPhone 5 and 5c
- HTC Desire 500
- Huawei Ascend: D, D1, D2, G740, Mate and P1
- Lenovo A820
- LG Optimus: 4X HD, F3, F3Q, F5, F6, F7, L2II, L3II, L3II Dual, L4II, L4II Dual, L5, L5II, L5II Dual, L7, L7II, L7II Dual, Nitro HD
- Samsung Galaxy: Ace 2, Core, S2, S3 mini, Trend II, Trend Lite, XCover 2
- Sony Xperia Arc S, miro and Neo L
- (Source: gizchina.com, Status: 29.12.2022)
Whatsapp: Some operating systems are no longer supported
Whatsapp will be discontinued for the affected devices on December 31, reports Gizchina. Those who have already installed Whatsapp should initially be able to continue using the app, however, reports t3n.de. However, it is no longer possible to create a Whatsapp account on the affected cell phone or to re-verify an existing account. Another reason why Whatsapp could still work on the devices mentioned is that the list was not created by Whatsapp itself, and therefore it has not been officially confirmed which devices are affected.
Whatsapp users can check for themselves whether their mobile phone is compatible with the operating systems specified by Whatsapp. For the iPhone models 5 and 5c, for example, iOS 10 is mentioned as the last compatible iOS. From iOS 11, the models no longer listed by Apple. Using operating systems that no longer receive security updates is generally not advisable – even if the app should still work. (kiba, sne)
Whatsapp regularly releases updates: just recently there was a new one Function that users should activate for data protection. There is also one new function on Whatsapp to delete messages.