It’s a well-established ritual: from time to time, application publishers and manufacturers of high-tech products stop supporting certain devices. WhatsApp has just unveiled a new list of smartphones that will no longer be supported from January 1, 2023.
From this date, it will be impossible to install WhatsApp on the smartphones concerned. If the application is already installed on the device, however, it is possible that everything works more or less normally for a while. However, no updates will be available if a bug is discovered or parts of the app stop working, and any uninstallation will be permanent, at least if you plan to reinstall WhatsApp via the Google Play Store.
Here is the list of iPhones and Android smartphones that lose access to WhatsApp on January 1, 2023
For iPhones : it will now be mandatory to have a iPhone 5S or later running iOS 12 (or newer on compatible models). If your iPhone 5S is still on iOS 11 (a fairly rare case) simply update it by connecting it to your WiFi network and launching an update search via the settings.
WhatsApp remains available on the first generation iPhone SE (which is incidentally compatible with iOS 15.7.2). access to the application:
For Android smartphones : All smartphones that do not have access to an Android version later than Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) no longer have access to new installations of WhatsApp via the Google Play Store. APKs will remain available on third-party sites: however, we advise you to be wary of them – because the risk of hackers taking advantage of them to spread malware is quite high.
The smartphone models that become excluded from WhatsApp from January 1, 2023 are, however, quite old and therefore rather rare in nature. In the list are found models like the HRC Desire 500 and the Samsung Galaxy S2 for example. Here is the list of all Android smartphones that lose WhatsApp support on January 1:
- Archos 53 Platinum
- HTC Desire 500
- Huawei Ascend D Quad XL
- Huawei Ascend D1
- Huawei Ascend D2
- Huawei Ascend G740
- Huawei Ascend Mate
- Huawei Ascend P1
- LG Enact
- LG Lucid 2
- LG Optimus 4X HD
- LG Optimus F3
- LG Optimus F3Q
- LG Optimus F5
- LG Optimus F6
- LG Optimus F7
- LG Optimus L2 II
- LG Optimus L3 II
- LG Optimus L3 II Dual
- LG Optimus L4 II
- LG Optimus L4 II Dual
- LG Optimus L5
- LG Optimus L5 Dual
- LG Optimus L5II
- LG Optimus L7
- LG Optimus L7 II
- LG Optimus L7 II Dual
- LG Optimus Nitro HD
- Lenovo A820
- Samsung Galaxy Ace 2
- Samsung Galaxy Core
- Samsung Galaxy S2
- Samsung Galaxy S3 mini
- Samsung Galaxy Trend II
- Samsung Galaxy Trend Lite
- Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2
- Sony Xperia Arc S
- Sony Xperia Miro
- Sony Xperia Neo L
- Wiko Cink Five
- Wiko Darknight ZT
- ZTE Grand S Flex
- ZTE Grand X Quad V987
- ZTE Memo V956
Maintaining teams dedicated to supporting older operating systems is very expensive. As the number of outdated devices dwindles, vendors often opt to stop charging. Each vendor is free to offer longer or shorter support for older devices and there is no particular industry standard.
“To keep pace with the latest technological advancements, we regularly stop supporting older operating systems and devote our resources to supporting the latest systems”simply explains WhatsApp on its help pages.
Of course it is still possible in some cases to install, for example, an alternative Android ROM, to push the duration of the device a little further and enjoy applications like WhatsApp on it for a little longer. But this kind of manipulation is not necessarily within everyone’s reach. Since some of these models on the list are almost 10 years old, it may be time to see if one of the best smartphones of the moment does not tempt you…
