WhatsApp Discontinues Updates for Smartphones Operating 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WhatsApp has lastly dropped assist for smartphones operating on an outdated model of Android, months after Google rendered these older handsets out of date.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. Primarily based on latest statistics, a small variety of customers are nonetheless operating on Android KitKat, and these customers should replace their software program or change to a more recent handset in an effort 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 (also called Lollipop) or newer. Android KitKat was launched in September 2013, which signifies that customers with smartphones operating on this working system have had entry to WhatsApp for almost a decade.

In response to latest statistics shared by Google (through Mishaal Rahman), the proportion of customers operating on Android 4.4 was between 0.5 p.c and 0.7 p.c in Might 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Now that WhatsApp has dropped assist for Android 4.4, customers with smartphones operating on this outdated model should replace their smartphones to Android 5.0, if a software program replace is obtainable from the producer.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 shouldn’t be accessible, customers should change to a extra trendy smartphone.

With out Android 5.0 — now the bottom model presently supported by WhatsApp — customers will 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 more likely to stay unavailable to those customers, until they change to a supported Android smartphone.

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