WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Facebook, will no longer be supported on a number of smartphones, including the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c, as of December 31, 2022.
This comes as no surprise, as the app was already discontinued for iOS 10 and iOS 11 in October.
The iPhone 5 and 5c, which were released in 2012 and 2013 respectively, have been updated with the latest operating system, iOS 10.3.4, until 2019. However, users with an iPhone 5s or newer that are still running iOS 10 or iOS 11 can update their operating system to continue using WhatsApp.
In addition to the iPhone models, the app will also no longer be supported on Android devices such as the HTC Desire 500, Lenovo A820, LG Optimus, and the Samsung Galaxy S3. This decision was made in order for WhatsApp to focus on improving the user experience on more modern smartphones and ensure that the app has the latest security updates and functionality.
According to the company, there are only a small number of people still using the app on these older devices.
If you are currently using WhatsApp on an unsupported device, it is recommended that you export all of your chat history before the app becomes completely unavailable. The current version of WhatsApp available on the App Store for iPhone requires iOS 12 or later.
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