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09th Dec 2019

Whatsapp will stop working on multiple phones next year – here’s what you need to know

Cathy Donohue

Whatsapp will stop working on a number of phones next year and here’s what you need to know.

First up is Windows Smartphones and from December 31, these phones will no longer support the current version of the popular messaging service.

However, this news also has implications for people using older versions of iPhone and Android software.

From the beginning of February onwards, Android phones running version 2.3.7 and older will no longer be able to access WhatsApp nor will iPhones running iOS 8 or earlier versions.

Regarding the latest iPhone updates, WhatsApp says:

“WhatsApp for iPhone requires iOS 9 or later. On iOS 8, you can no longer create new accounts or reverify existing accounts. If WhatsApp is currently active on your iOS 8 device, you’ll be able to use it until February 1, 2020”.

Whatsapp also note:

“Because we no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time”.

Lovely.

The good news is if you do have a phone running any of the above versions or a Windows Smartphone and want to save your chat history before the version ceases to work, there’s a very simple way to do so.

Tap on the contact of the chat you wish to save and you’ll see the menu option. If you scroll past “share contact”, you’ll see the option to “export chat” and you’ll be able to send it via email.