Older BlackBerry and Windows phones would not be able to get WhatsApp. WhatsApp had announced in advance that it will be discontinuing support for a particular batch of devices and OS in the coming times. Keeping its announcement integral, it has restated that devices running BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and Windows OS 8.0 and lower will not be capable to run WhatsApp later than 31st December 2017.
Recently, Whatsapp support page announced this news, which states that the user having BlackBerry OS & 10, Window Phone 8.0 and older, and Nokia s40 will not be capable to “create new accounts, nor re-verify existing accounts”.
On the other hand, users may still be competent to carry on using Whatsapp on these devices but a few features of the device might not work appropriately.
The app hasn’t even secure Android. Android versions 2.3.7 and older will also not be carried by Whatsapp, pending February 1, 2020.
Must Read: WhatsApp to say bye to some mobiles in the start of 2018
According to the statement by Whatsapp, which gave details and inform why the company is doing this, says,
“These platforms don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future. If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer OS version.”
According to Facebook owned app, it is forced to take steps like these because older devices are not compatible with the latest updates being rolled out. These updates contain new features like voice calling, video calling, use of GIFs, screening and viewing of YouTube videos within the app etc.
If we look this step from a business point of view then WhatsApp is right in its stride seeing as these features are being offered by each one of its competitors like Skype, Viber etc.
In any case, failure to offer these features is possibly will set a bad model in the minds of consumers with newer devices and eventually it will lead toward potential losses in target customer base and market share.
However, it is recommended by WhatsApp that users having these devices should upgrade to newer models to keep on getting its services and updates.
