WhatsApp Support For Nokia, BlackBerry Extended; Windows Phone 7, iOS 6 And Dated Android OS-Running Devices To Finally End

WhatsApp previously announced that it is ending support for a slew of devices this year, and the list included Nokia and BlackBerry smartphones. However, the messenger app company changed its tune this week when it revealed that support for BB and Nokia handsets has been extended.

PocketNow revealed Monday that WhatsApp support for Nokia handsets running the S40 or Symbian S60 platforms and BB devices running BlackBerry OS will be extended until the middle of the year next year. To be specific, it will come to an end on June 30, 2017 and not by the end of this year.

Apart from Nokia and BlackBerry devices, however, WhatsApp is still pursuing its decision to terminate support for older mobile software platforms by the end of 2016. The company is urging everyone to upgrade their handsets if they wish to continue using the WhatsApp messenger app. The move is expected to affect millions of users, but it wouldn’t be too much knowing that there are more than a billion users as of late.

WhatsApp is pulling the plug on older Android, iOS and Windows Phone smartphones. Per the company, Android handsets running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and up will continue to be supported. Meanwhile, Android 2.2 Froyo and below will not be able to run its app anymore. Support for iOS 6 and Windows Phone 7 devices are also ending come 2017, according to Gadgets 360.

The main reason why WhatsApp is encouraging everyone to upgrade their handsets is because dated devices with older operating systems impede the growth of the app. As it plans to expand the app’s features, it would rely on newer operating systems to make this work.

The Facebook-owned company first announced that it is ending support for several devices back in February while it was celebrating its seventh birthday, as per Express. "As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use… 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,” the company said back then.