WhatsApp To Cut Legacy OS Support For Nokia, Blackberry And Windows Starting 2016

Facebook-owned WhatsApp, a popular messaging service with one billion-strong customer base, has recently announced its move to cut support for legacy operating systems that run on old phones by the end of the year.

The company will abandon its support for the following operating systems starting December 2016: Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, Blackberry OS 7 and earlier, Blackberry 10, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, and Windows Phone 7.1.

For WhatsApp, dropping support for a number of older phones is justified on the grounds that if they continue doing so, it might hold back the app's future growth. On a practical level, the company noted that they would rather focus on platforms used by a vast majority of mobile users, according to BBC News.

"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future...This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp," WhatsApp said in an official blog post quoted by Business Standard.

Even the relatively new Blackberry 10 which runs on Android will not be spared. In 2014 alone, Blackberry had sold about 7 million handsets, meaning that tens of millions of users will surely be affected by WhatsApp end-of-support decision. The company also added that users whose devices are affected are advised to upgrade before the year ends.

"If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp," advised the company in a statement mentioned in a report by Independent.