WhatsApp no longer works on these older phones – is yours affected?
WhatsApp has announced it's stopping hardware support for three key iPhones and numerous Android phones stuck on older operating systems
Apps stopping support for older hardware is a normal occurrence – but it’s still inconvenient for those affected. WhatsApp has announced it’s stopping hardware support for three key iPhones and numerous Android phones stuck on older operating systems.
WhatsApp will now require iOS 15.1 or later or Android 5.1 or later.
That means that three iPhones are now no longer supported – the colorful 2013 iPhone 5s as well as 2014’s iPhone 6 and the first larger iPhone, the 6 Plus. Some have suggested this also includes the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and the iPhone SE (1st gen) but as those are newer devices they are OK for the moment. However, it’s highly likely things will change when the app next drops support for certain devices.
Android phones running 5.0 Lollipop or earlier are now no longer supported including some popular models from around a decade ago such as the 2012 Samsung Galaxy S3 and 2013 HTC One X.
These phones are obviously all rather old now, so nobody should be surprised at the dropping of support, but they may still be in use as second devices or by those who have had no need to upgrade.
You’re still able to back up your chats to iCloud for the iPhone or Google Drive for Android before you move to a new device. Go to WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Chat Backup.
If you don’t know what operating system you’re running go to Settings > General > About on iOS or Settings > About phone on an Android device.
It’s certainly been a busy time for WhatsApp – the Meta-owned app recently debuted its iPad app….. 15 years after the device first launched.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
