WhatsApp users with older Android phones may find the app will stop working soon. WhatsApp has announced it will discontinue support for Android 4.1 to Android 4.4.4 on 24 October 2023. From this date, you will need a phone with at least Android 5.0 in order to keep using the app.
How to check your Android version
Open the settings on your Android device. Tap on About -> Android version. The exact place you’ll find the version number may vary from phone to phone and tablet to tablet, but you will certainly be able to find this important information somewhere in Settings.
If you find that your device is still running Android 4.1, there is nothing more you can do. Google no longer provides updates for it even if you could get an update to the latest Android 13, your phone – or tablet – is unlikely to be able to run it. If this is the case, you should consider buying a new smartphone.
Not many people should be affected
The good news is that this change should affect almost no one. Android 4.1 and 4.4.4 are very old and even Android 6 was used by just 1.69% of Android users in May 2023 according to Statista, which doesn’t even list Android 4 or 5 any longer.
Android 5 is old and insecure
Android 5 Lollipop was released on 3 November 2014, which means that WhatsApp will still work on very old Android phones after 24 October 2023. Google has long since stopped providing security updates for it, so using a phone that runs it is risky and should be avoided. Nevertheless, WhatsApp will still work on Lollipop and other Android veterans.
Google will release Android 14 before the end of this year.
Nothing changes for the iPhone
For the iPhone, the system requirements for WhatsApp won’t change: As before, you need an iPhone running OS 12 or later in order to use the messaging app. This has been the case since October 2022, when WhatsApp discontinued support for iOS 10 and 11.
To summarise, as of October 2023, you’ll need a device with the following operating system versions:
- Android devices with version 5 or later
- iPhones with iOS 12 or later
- KaiOS phones as of KaiOS 2.5.0, including JioPhone and JioPhone 2
This article was originally published on PCWelt.com.
Author: Hans-Christian Dirscherl, Managing Editor, PC-WELT
Hans-Christian Dirscherl began his IT life with Autoexec.bat and config.sys, Turbo-Pascal and C, Sinix and Wordperfect. He has been writing on almost all IT topics for around 25 years, covering everything from news to reviews and buying guides.