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WhatsApp is about to make a dramatic change to its popular chat service that will leave some iPhone users blocked from sending and receiving any messages. It’s no secret that the meta-owned firm updates things from to time with older operating systems sometimes losing compatibility with the platform. Now the next batch of iPhones that will stop working have been announced and it’s bad news for anyone with an iPhone 5 or colourful 5c in their pocket.
As spotted by the eagle-eyed team at WABetainfo, WhatsApp is starting to alert some users that their devices will stop working from October 2022.
That’s because Apple’s iOS 12 will be the minimum requirement for devices from this autumn and both the iPhone 5 and 5c can’t run that software more recent software.
In the alert, WhatsApp warns: “Update to the latest version of iOS to continue using WhatsApp. WhatsApp will stop supporting this version of iOS after 24 Oct 24.”
Along with this pop-up window on iPhones, WhatsApp has also updated its support page which now states, “Currently, we provide support for and recommend using the following devices: Android running OS 4.1 and newer, iPhone running iOS 12 and newer.”
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So why is WhatsApp making this change?
It’s not uncommon for the firm to drop support for older devices with the company needing to focus on upgrades that will be available for the majority of its users. As phones get older fewer people use them so it makes business sense to stop pushing out updates.
WhatsApp says that it looks at what devices to support each year and it seems in 2022 it’s the end for anything that runs iOS 10 or iOS 11.
“Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates,” WhatsApp said.
“To choose what to stop supporting, every year we, like other technology companies, look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest number of people still using them. These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp.”
If you have an iPhone 5 or 5c and love WhatsApp then you’ve got five months left before you’ll need to buy something new.
Here are all the iPhones that are compatible with iOS 12 and later:
iPhone 5S
iPhone 6/6 Plus
iPhone 6S/6S Plus
iPhone SE (1st generation)
iPhone 7/7 Plus
iPhone 8/8 Plus
iPhone X
iPhone XS/XS Max
iPhone XR
iPhone 11 range
iPhone 12 range
iPhone 13 range
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