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It’s not surprising that about 50 handsets won’t be able to run WhatsApp this year as WhatsApp regularly phases out older smartphones. For many Android and iOS devices, WhatsApp is phasing out support for the second time in the past three months.
Last time, WhatsApp said it would stop supporting the iPhone SE, iPhone 6S, and iPhone 6S Plus, as well as at least 40 Android devices made by Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony, ZTE, HTC, Lenovo, and Alcatel. It was in October.
The Apple iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c were among the almost 50 phones that WhatsApp stated it would no longer support this time. Samsung, Huawei, LG, Sony, Lenovo, and ZTE are among the other phone manufacturers on the list.
Since they last received updates a very long time ago, these phones will no longer be supported. WhatsApp’s software now has more stringent requirements, meaning it will only work on smartphones running iOS 12 or Android 5.0 Lollipop.
WhatsApp still lists OS 4.1 and later Android devices as compatible in their FAQ. As most (if not all) phones that won’t support WhatsApp by the end of the year use Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, we’re currently determining how accurate the information is.
The list, first reported by GizChina, consists primarily of entry-level and mid-range smartphones. If you use one of these smartphones, you should upgrade to a newer phone to keep using WhatsApp and get the most recent updates.
Samsung
- Samsung Galaxy Ace 2
- Samsung Galaxy Core
- Samsung Galaxy S2
- Samsung Galaxy S3 mini
- Samsung Galaxy Trend II
- Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite
- Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
Apple
- iPhone 5
- iPhone 5c
Archos
- Archos 53 Platinum
ZTE
- ZTE Grand S Flex
- ZTE Grand X Quad V987
- ZTE Memo V956
HTC
- HTC Desire 500
Huawei
- Huawei Ascend D
- Huawei Ascend D1
- Huawei Ascend D2
- Huawei Ascend G740
- Huawei Ascend Mate
- Huawei Ascend P1
- Huawei Ascend D quad XL
Lenovo
- Lenovo A820
LG
- LG Enact
- LG Lucid 2
- LG Optimus 4X HD
- LG Optimus F3
- LG Optimus F3Q
- LG Optimus F5
- LG Optimus F6
- LG Optimus F7
- LG Optimus L2 II
- LG Optimus L3 II
- LG Optimus L3 II Dual
- LG Optimus L4 II
- LG Optimus L4 II Dual
- LG Optimus L5
- LG Optimus L5 Dual
- LG Optimus L5 II
- LG Optimus L7
- LG Optimus L7 II
- LG Optimus L7 II Dual
- LG Optimus Nitro HD
Wiko
- Wiko Cink Five
- Wiko Darknight ZT
Sony
- Sony Xperia Arc S
- Sony Xperia miro
- Sony Xperia Neo L
It makes sense for WhatsApp to redirect its resources to the areas where they are most needed since most of these phones have already been phased out. The phones mentioned above should no longer be able to operate WhatsApp after December 31. Naturally, some workarounds let WhatsApp users with incompatible devices keep using the service, but this only delays what will eventually happen.
According to WhatsApp, whenever it decides what to stop supporting, it considers the hardware and software that is the most dated and has the fewest users. This suggests that even if WhatsApp decides that many people are still using your phone, it is still supported even if it runs an older version of Android.
However, as long as Apple and Google keep releasing new versions of iOS and Android, WhatsApp will do its part and stop supporting older devices running its program. It’s a different way of encouraging people to upgrade to newer models to receive the same assistance as other WhatsApp users.
