WhatsApp announced on its blogs recently that it will be withdrawing its support on some of the less known mobile phone platforms. The devices that are expected to be affected from this announcement are Symbian 40, Symbian 60, Android 2.1 and 2.2 devices, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7.1. Although there exists no other choice for the rest of them, BlackBerry BB10 does have a chance of using Android apps within the operating system where losing Hub integration is a drawback. As per statistics WhatsApp is a part of 99% Android, Windows 8 and iOS device. Although WhatsApp calls it a tough decision to be made, it has no other go but to go with the flow and focus on the growing market.
The reason behind the move is said to be that those models do not support the additional features and updates made on WhatsApp. Company also stated, “While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future.” and also announced that, “This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp. If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.”
It is indeed bad news for BlackBerry classic phone users and Windows phone users as WhatsApp is more or less the most needed chat companion these days. It is inevitable for them to go with the decision and get set for alternative options.