Today, Facebook's Facebook instant messaging app stops working on millions of older mobile devices globally, after the company suspended support for such phones running older versions of Android and iOS completely.
With more than a billion users across 180 countries, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging systems in the world, but millions of these people may now find themselves isolated with the company’s announcement that it has discontinued support for older Android and iOS phones.
The company said in a post: "Although these mobile devices were an important part of our story, they do not provide the capabilities we need to expand application features in the future, and this was a difficult decision for us, but it is the right decision in order to give people a better way to stay in touch." With friends, family and loved ones. "
Affected users will not be able to use their existing accounts, in addition to losing conversations if they did not export their chat history earlier, and the company notes that the option to export chat is not available in Germany.
The company that developed the application had suspended on December 31, 2019 its support for Windows Phone users, with a message saying "You can no longer use WhatsApp on this phone, because WhatsApp no longer supports it."
With the deadline corresponding to today's date, users using Android 2.3.7 (known as Gingerbread) and earlier versions, as well as users of iPhone 8 and earlier, are affected.