WhatsApp Discontinues Updates for Smartphones Working on Android KitKat: All You Must Know

WhatsApp has lastly dropped assist for smartphones operating on an outdated model of Android, months after Google rendered these older handsets out of date. Earlier this week, the Meta-owned messaging platform discontinued additional updates to customers with smartphones on Android 4.4, extra generally generally known as Android KitKat. Based mostly on latest statistics, a small variety of customers are nonetheless operating on Android KitKat, and these customers should replace their software program or swap to a more recent handset as a way to proceed utilizing the service.

Function tracker WABetaInfo on Tuesday reported that WhatsApp has elevated its minimal necessities to smartphones operating on Android 5.0 (often known as Lollipop) or newer. Android KitKat was launched in September 2013, which implies that customers with smartphones operating on this working system have had entry to WhatsApp for practically a decade.

In line with latest statistics shared by Google (by way of Mishaal Rahman), the share of customers operating on Android 4.4 was between 0.5 p.c and 0.7 p.c in Could 2023, when essentially the most up-to-date figures had been revealed.

Now that WhatsApp has dropped assist for Android 4.4, customers with smartphones operating on this outdated model should replace their smartphones to Android 5.0, if a software program replace is obtainable from the producer. If an replace to a more recent Android model just isn’t accessible, customers should swap to a extra trendy smartphone.

With out Android 5.0 — now the bottom model at the moment supported by WhatsApp — customers will now not obtain updates on their smartphone. Which means new options like assist for passkeys, a redesigned backside navigation bar, in addition to upcoming options just like the multi-account function (with assist for switching between numbers) are prone to stay unavailable to those customers, until they swap to a supported Android smartphone.

Affiliate hyperlinks could also be routinely generated – see our ethics assertion for particulars.