CAPE TOWN - WhatsApp has announced that it will stop support platforms on smartphones such as BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone 8.0 and older and the Nokia S40 at the end of the year.
WhatsApp says it will be using refocusing its resouces to focus on other developments.
The company has since started creating new features for the platform such as introducing support for recalling messages as well as the added location sharing with contacts.
“These platforms don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” said the company in a blog post.
“If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer OS version, or to a newer Android running OS 4.0+, iPhone running iOS 7+, or Windows Phone 8.1+ so that you can continue using WhatsApp”, said WhatsApp
Users will soon start seeing the effects, with the listed devices not able to create new accounts or re-verify existing accounts.
“Because we will no longer actively develop for these platforms,” it cautions, “some features may stop functioning at any time.”
Additionally, Android versions 2.3.7 and older will experience the same fate but luckily have until February 1, 2020.