After making the app free of annual fee earlier this month, WhatsApp has embarked on yet another major decision for 2016. Unlike the previous one though, this might not be a good news to some users as the decision is regarding the support for several aging operating systems.
Specifically, the popular messaging service will be ending it support for these operating systems by the end of 2016:
- BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10
- Nokia S40
- Nokia Symbian S60
- Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
- Windows Phone 7.1
According to the company, it want to channel its focus into platforms that are being used by majority of users in the market. At the same time, the operating systems that were mentioned in the list are not able to support new features that the company is planning to implement in the future.
WhatsApp has always been known as one of the rare apps in the market that actually supports multiple operating system regardless of their market size. This decision might change that status but at the same time, that doesn’t mean that the reason behind the move is not valid though since almost all of these operating systems in the list can be considered as ancient.
While BlackBerry 10 might not be as old as other operating systems in the list but as BlackBerry itself is starting to turn Android into its principal operating system, we are not shocked by WhatsApp’s decision as well. If you are affected by this news, looks like it is time to shop for a new smartphone.
(Source: WhatsApp)
