The popular social messaging app, WhatsApp had declared that it will stop its support for older mobiles that are running on earlier versions of Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows OS by the end of 2016. The list included older Android mobiles, Nokia mobiles, Apple iPhones, Windows Phone 7, and Blackberry mobiles.
Afterward, the company announced that it will extend the support for Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Blackberry OS, and Blackberry 10 OS until June 30, 2017. Now, as the year is ending, the Whatsapp support for the older smartphones may come to an end. This will either lead to buying a new and latest mobile, or else discontinuation to the Whatsapp usage for the millions of users across the world.
The WhatsApp has over 1 billion monthly active users and has come forward as the world’s most popular instant messaging app.
As per Whatsapp, it will drop the support from those smartphones running on Windows Phone 7, Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, the iPhone 3GS, and the other iPhones that still runs on iOS 6 or older OS by the end of 2016. So anyone using Ice-Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean powered a smartphone, they can still use Whatsapp.
In case you are worried, you need not panic. If you use Android mobiles, then according to the Google’s own dashboard numbers from November 2016, around 0.1 percent device runs on Android Froyo OS. From this, it doesn’t seem like too many devices in the Android and the iOS universe will get affected by this move.
On the other hand, the Apple’s October 2016 data, around 8 percent of iOS mobiles are still running on earlier versions of iOS which comprise every device under iOS 9 and below. So, if you still want to keep the iOS 6 for some reason, then you should have to stop Whatsapp usage by this year. While the Windows 7 mobile users will lack the Whatsapp support by 2016, the Blackberry 10, BBOS, Nokia S40, and Symbian S60 will still get updates till June 2017.
In justification to this support drop, Whatsapp has mentioned in its older blog that the older phones don’t offer the kind of competencies which are required to expand the app’s features. In case you are using any of these older phones, then it’s time to upgrade your smartphone. The latest mobiles are coming with some innovative and useful features which are surely missing in your existing smartphone. And upgrading smartphone is a win-win situation for you, as you get more features and also support for latest apps in it.
If you are looking for budget mobiles which will not put a hole in your pocket, then you can consider these smartphones to be your next.
It is a 4-inch display smartphone with Asahi Dragontrail protection. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS powered by a Spreadtrum quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz alongside a 512MB RAM. For photography, it has 2MP camera sensors both at front and back of the device. It is now available for the lowest price of Rs 3,990 on Amazon India.
It is a 4-inch display smartphone powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and a 512MB RAM. The device runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS. On the camera front, it has a 5MP primary rear camera with a 0.3MP front snapper. It boasts a 1400mAh battery. The Micromax Bolt Q326 is available at a price of Rs 2,999 on Shopclues.
It is a 4-inch display smartphone powered by a 1.3GHz Spreadtrum quad-core processor and a 1GB RAM. The device runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop OS. On the camera front, it has a 5MP primary rear camera with a 0.3MP front snapper. It boasts a 2000mAh battery. The Lenovo A1000 is available at a price of Rs 3,274 on Snapdeal.
