WhatsApp doesn’t want to hang out with outdated software like BlackBerry, Nokia Symbian and Windows Phone 7.1 anymore. A few days after celebrating its 7th birthday and 1 billion active users, the company has announced that it won’t support the aforementioned operating systems anymore. The Facebook-owned app is not just giving said platforms the cold shoulder though.
Even folks with smartphones running Android v2.1 and v2.2 or older will have to upgrade their software to be able to continue using WhatsApp. According to the official Android Developers website, 0.1 percent of handsets with Google’s mobile OS were using Froyo (v2.2) as of 1 February 2016. The figures are from the new Google Play Store app supporting Android 2.2 and higher.
In August 2013, just about 1% of phones which checked into Google’s servers were working on Froyo or lower. Since Google has been encouraging manufacturers of low-end to top-tier devices to roll out software updates regularly, the majority of Android users won’t be affected by WhatsApp’s latest decision. But BlackBerry is still fairly popular in emerging markets such as India.
Also see: Facebook, WhatsApp most popular applications in India
So folks using handsets with BlackBerry or BlackBerry 10 aboard are likely to be disappointed. WhatsApp claims that it wants to put all its efforts into improving the messenger app for platforms used by the majority of consumers. The mobile landscape has changed greatly since the application was launched in 2009. BlackBerry and Nokia were then at the top of their game with 70 percent of the market share.
The iTunes App Store was relatively new at that time. Additionally, only 25 percent of mobile devices were powered by Google, Apple or Microsoft. But today, these three companies have a whopping 99.5 percent of the pie. WhatsApp continues to be offered as a free messenger tool. Streamlining its developmental efforts is surely going to cut down on costs significantly in the long run.
Full list of mobile OS WhatsApp will be abandoning:
– Android 2.1 Eclair and Android 2.2 Froyo
– BlackBerry and BlackBerry 10
– Windows Phone 7.1
– Nokia Symbian S60
– Nokia S40
Those who have smartphones running any of the above platforms have about a year to upgrade. WhatsApp won’t be dropping support for these systems until the end of 2016.