WhatsApp no longer supports older iPhones. A software update reveals that the policy change is already in effect, implying that Apple customers late for an upgrade should expect to be disconnected from the service.
WhatsApp’s official list of supported operating systems now starts at Apple’s iOS 10, as opposed to iOS 9 still listed a week ago.
This confirms a report released this week by WABetaInfo that the latest version 2.21.50 of WhatApp software for Apple phones, dropped support for iOS 9.
Both of these iPhone operating systems are old, in terms of cell phones. The latest version is iOS 14, and very few people have neglected to upgrade their software at least once since iOS 10 launched in 2016.
But the once very popular iPhone 4 cannot be upgraded to iOS 10, making its formal use impossible in the ecosystem supported by WhatsApp. Those with an original iPhone 5, iPhone 6, or iPhone SE – which managed to avoid software updates – could also be affected.
The previous version of the WhatsApp software continues to work on iPhones, which means that iOS 9 users are not yet unable to use WhatsApp. But apart from the position that WhatsApp “encourages you to always use the latest version”, it also ultimately blocks the use of older versions.
“Please note that if you receive a message that is not supported by your version of WhatsApp, you will need to update WhatsApp,” he warns.
