WhatsApp: These phones will no longer support the messaging app from 31 May

Over 40 million people were using WhatsApp in the UK as of May 2021, Statista’s data shows. Last year Meta’s messaging giant became even more popular, with countless businesses joining the platform.

But as WhatsApp is constantly improving its user experience which requires various updates in the tech behind the product, the developers struggle to make it work on all the devices, opting for the newer ones and ditching the older models.

Sadly, the messenger won’t function on quite a lot of devices starting as soon as this Wednesday, May 31.

Find out what models are affected.

Meanwhile, there are fears that WhatsApp will have to leave the UK for good as its ‘end-to-end encryption’ doesn’t comply with the Government’s Online Safety Bill. The ministers were warned the time for finding a solution is running out.

Also, learn sending disappearing WhatsApp messages and photoswith this easy hack.

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WhatsApp will stop working on these devices

WhatsApp developers are constantly improving the app while trying to catch up with the new models of devices that keep updating their software too.

This race for perfection and enhanced privacy protectionresults in the platform getting ahead of the older or discontinued phones.

According to Meta which owns the popular messenger, starting this Wednesday, May 31 the app will stop functioning on a number of phones that do not meet the compatibility requirements.

Users are urged to see if their device will still be supported. The list of incompatible ones is long and includes dozens of models.

Samsung Galaxy Core, Trend Lite, Ace 2, S3 mini, Trend II and X cover 2 are the ones WhatsApp has ditched.

LG Optimus L3 II Dual, L5 II, F5, L3 II, L7II, L5 Dual, L7 Dual, F3, F3Q, L2 II, L4 II and F6, as well as LG Enact, LG Lucid 2 and LG Optimus F7 are also in the list.

Out of Huawei devices, WhatsApp will stop functioning on Ascend Mate, Ascend G740 and Ascend D2.

If you own Sony Xperia M and Lenovo A820, they won’t allow access to the app either.

ZTE V956 - UMI X2, Grand S Flex and Grand Memo, Faea F1THL W8, Wiko Cink Five, Winko Darknight and Archos 53 Platinum are among the discontinued models.

What Apple devices did WhatsApp ditch?

Although your iPhone 6S, iPhone SE and iPhone 6S Plus may still look fresh and be operational, you won’t have access to the popular messaging app on them.

The way WhatsApp identifies what devices to ditch is by looking at the age of their software and the number of users, with those older and least popular losing the tech possibility to support the app.

As Meta’s app prioritises users' privacy protection and takes pride in its popular end-to-end encryption feature, certain older devices may simply not have the latest security updates or the functionality required to run WhatsApp.

The company warned:

In order to keep up with the latest technological advances, we regularly stop supporting outdated operating systems to dedicate our resources to supporting the latest ones.

Read more:

⋙ WhatsApp: Send disappearing messages and photos with this easy hack

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Sources used:

- Marca: 'WhatsApp: List of phones that will not support the app from May 31'