WhatsApp will stop working on these smartphones from February - how to check if yours is affected

Will you be affected by the changes? (Photo: Shutterstock)Will you be affected by the changes? (Photo: Shutterstock)
Will you be affected by the changes? (Photo: Shutterstock)

With WhatsApp acting as a popular way for people to communicate, thousands of users could see themselves unable to use the app from next month.

The app stopped working on a number of devices in December and now some additional models are due to see it stop functioning as of February.

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This is what you need to know and how to check if you’ll be affected.

Android and iOS phones

Smartphones running the Windows Mobile operating system stopped being supported on 31 December 2019.

Next in line to be affected is any phone running software older than iOS 7, along with any Android device with version 2.3.7 installed.

These devices will see the app stop function from 1 February.

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WhatsApp said: “Because we no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time.”

For iPhone users, Whatsapp stated that those on iOS 8 will also no longer be able to create new accounts, or reverify existing accounts, from 1 February 2020.

Save your chat history

If you’re concerned about losing your chat history on WhatsApp, there’s an easy way for you to be able to save it.

Simply go to the chat or group you want to save, tap on the three dots on the upper right hand side of the screen and select either the ‘more’ option or the ‘group info’ option depending on your operating system.

From there, tap ‘export chat’.

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For Windows phones, unfortunately you are unable to attach any chat media in the export. For iPhone and Android devices, this is available.

You’ll be sent an email that will contain your chat history as a .txt document.

Devices no longer supported

WhatsApp has previously withdrawn support from the likes of Nokia Symbian S60, Nokia Series 40 operating systems, BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Android 2.1 and 2.2, Windows Phone 7, and iPhone 3GS and iOS 6.

Regarding these changes, WhatsApp said: “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.”

This article originally appeared on our sister site Edinburgh Evening News

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