WhatsApp, Meta’s free-to-use instant messaging and calling platform, is a staple for almost every Android smartphone user around the world. However, with the increasing capabilities of WhatsApp, the minimum requirement to run WhatsApp is also updated, and some older smartphones will lose permanent access to the application.
According to a report by HDblogPublished on December 20, more than 20 different Android smartphones will lose access to WhatsApp on January 1, the first day of the new year. This especially applies to devices running Android KitKat or earlier operating system versions. Apart from WhatsApp, there is a high possibility that other meta apps like Facebook and Instagram will soon stop working on these mobiles. Interestingly, some of the smartphones on this list come from brands like HTC and LG, which stopped making smartphones years ago.
Note that all devices set to lose WhatsApp access are at least 10 years old. So, even if you have a five or six year old Android smartphone, WhatsApp will continue to work as expected. However, if you have one of the smartphones mentioned below, we recommend you to backup all WhatsApp chats to Google account to ensure easy restoration of all chats on the new smartphone.
|
Smartphones that lose WhatsApp support |
| Moto E 2014 |
| HTC One X |
| HTC One X+ |
| HTC Desire 500 |
| HTC Desire 601 |
| HTC Optimus G |
| HTC Nexus 4 |
| LG G2 Mini |
| LG L90 |
| Sony Xperia Z |
| Sony Xperia SP |
| Sony Xperia T |
| Sony Xperia V |
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