WhatsApp to end support for older mobile platforms

Still using WhatsApp on an outdated iPhone or Android handset? It’s time to upgrade your phone.

The latest announcement comes months after WhatsApp ended support for phones running on the BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8.0 and older. (REUTERS)

If you've been using an old smartphone to access WhatsApp, it's time to get a new one. The instant messaging application on Thursday announced that it is going to end support for older mobile operating systems such as Nokia S40, Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread and older, and iPhone's iOS 7 and older.

WhatsApp will end support for Nokia S40 after December 31, 2018. However, the messaging application has been a little flexible with older Android and iOS versions. It will end support for Android versions 2.3.7 and older after February 1, 2020, and iPhone iOS 7 and older after February 1, 2020.

WhatsApp users with these operating systems will be no longer to use the messaging application after these dates. The company had long stopped introducing new features for them.

It is worth noting that the move is going to impact a very small number of mobile phone users. According to the Android distribution chart, Gingerbread is running on just 0.3% of the devices. Third-party OS monitoring platform Aptelligent reports that iOS 7 and older versions are also running on just 0.3% of the devices.

The latest announcement comes months after WhatsApp ended support for phones running on the BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10, and Windows Phone 8.0 and older.

"Because we will no longer actively develop for these platforms, some features may stop functioning at any time," WhatsApp said on its website.