Technology
WhatsApp will be blocked on MILLIONS of iPhones and Androids in five days
WHATSAPP is about to be blocked on millions of phones in just five days.
The November deadline for the block is nearly here – and will lock some iPhones and Android mobiles out of the chat app forever.
WhatsAppWhatsApp will soon stop working on some older smartphones[/caption]
Any users affected by the block will need to update their software, or buy a new phone.
It’s possible that your handset may be too old to update, forcing you to upgrade.
More than 50 different smartphone models are expected to be affected.
The deadline for the change is November 1, after which point WhatsApp will stop working on those models.
Model mayhem
For Android users, you’ll need to be running Android 4.1 or later.
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And for iPhone users, you’ll need to be on iOS 10 or later.
On the Android front, that means a host of popular phones will lose access, including the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate.
For Apple, you’ll lose access on an iPhone 4 or older.
And if you’ve never updated your iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus or iPhone SE (2016), you’ll lose access until you update.
That’s because they launched on iOS 9.
But you can update all three models to iOS 15 – the latest version – and keep access to WhatsApp.
Tech companies regularly stop supporting older devices.
Google did just that with old Android phones for Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps.
Sometimes it’s because it’s simply not cost-efficient to keep apps working on very old versions of iOS or Android.
That’s especially the case if only a small percentage of users are running these old versions of software.
Using outdated software can also be a huge security risk – so it’s important you update, or upgrade if you can’t.
The phones losing WhatsApp support
Here’s 52 of the affected devices. Note that some of these phones can still be updated to restore access…
Galaxy Trend Lite
Galaxy Trend II
Galaxy SII
Galaxy S3 mini
Galaxy Xcover 2
Galaxy Core
Galaxy Ace 2
Lucid 2
Optimus F7
Optimus F5
Optimus L3 II Dual
Optimus F5
Optimus L5
Best L5 II
Optimus L5 Dual
Best L3 II
Optimus L7
Optimus L7 II Dual
Best L7 II
Optimus F6, Enact
Optimus L4 II Dual
Optimus F3
Best L4 II
Best L2 II
Optimus Nitro HD
Optimus 4X HD
Optimus F3Q
ZTE V956
Grand X Quad V987
Grand Memo
Xperia Miro
Xperia Neo L
Xperia Arc S
Alcatel
Ascend G740
Ascend Mate
Ascend D Quad XL
Ascend D1 Quad XL
Ascend P1 S
Ascend D2
Archos 53 Platinum
HTC Desire 500
Caterpillar Cat B15
Wiko Cink Five
Wiko Darknight
Lenovo A820
UMi X2
Run F1
THL W8
iPhone SE
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6S Plus
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