The popular instant messaging app WhatsApp will stop working on 43 different models of smartphones from November 1.
The Facebook-owned platform will not work on phones that run on system older than Android OS 4.1, Apple’s iOS 10 and KaiOS 2.5.1, according to its FAQ section.
The smartphones that will no longer be able to use WhatsApp include:
Apple
The first generation iPhone SE, 6s and 6s Plus.
Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite, Galaxy Trend II, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy Xcover 2, Galaxy Core and Galaxy Ace 2.
LG
The LG Lucid 2, Optimus F7, Optimus F5, Optimus L3 II Dual, Optimus F5, Optimus L5, Optimus L5 II, Optimus L5 Dual, Optimus L3 II, Optimus L7, Optimus L7 II Dual, Optimus L7 II, Optimus F6, Enact, Optimus L4 II Dual, Optimus F3, Optimus L4 II, Optimus L2 II, Optimus Nitro HD and 4X HD, and Optimus F3Q.
ZTE
The ZTE Grand S Flex, ZTE V956, Grand X Quad V987 and Grand Memo.
Huawei
The Huawei Ascend G740, Ascend Mate, Ascend D Quad XL, Ascend D1 Quad XL, Ascend P1 S and Ascend D2.
Sony
The Sony Xperia Miro, Sony Xperia Neo L and Xperia Arc S.
Others
The Alcatel One Touch Evo 7, Archos 53 Platinum, HTC Desire 500, Caterpillar Cat B15, Wiko Cink Five, Wiko Darknight, Lenovo A820, UMi X2, Faea F1 and THL W8.
Separately, the company has introduced a new feature to allow users to migrate their chats when switching from iOS to Samsung Android devices.
Before the migration feature, iOS chat histories would be stored in iCloud, while Android histories went to Google Drive, making it nearly impossible to transfer chats between phones that use different operating systems. Users would instead email their chat histories to themselves.
Voice messages, photos and videos can be transferred using the new feature, but not call history or display name.
“To start, this feature is available on any Samsung device running Android 10 or higher, and will be available on more Android devices soon,” said WhatsApp.
The migration needs to be completed during the initial set-up of new phones.
“Your new Android device must be factory new or reset to factory settings,” read the WhatsApp instructions. If already using a device, users would alternatively need to do its factory reset.
“This is just a start,” said WhatsApp in a blog post. “We look forward to making this option available for more people to switch between platforms of their choice and securely take their chats with them.”
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