As we’ve reported before many times, the Android and iOS versions of WhatsApp are distinct from each other and have different development schedules. Usually, they end up with the same features eventually, but they are not always aligned with each other as sometimes news comes out about one version of the app but not the other. That is exactly what is happening here as while the Android version of WhatsApp remains unscathed, some versions of iOS are losing support for the popular messaging app.
The WhatsApp Help Center now says that WhatsApp provides support for and is recommended for use on iPhones running iOS 12 and above. This means that WhatsApp will no longer enable iPhone users running previously supported iOS versions 10 and 11 to continue running the app on their phone.
As well as the updated page on the WhatsApp Help Center, a screenshot spotted by WABetaInfo clearly shows a date when this change will come into effect. According to that screenshot, iOS 10 users and iOS 11 users will lose WhatsApp support on October 24, 2022. This means, that if they want to continue using WhatsApp after that date, they will have to update the version of iOS they are running on their iPhone.
This means that anybody still running an iPhone 5 or an iPhone 5C will no longer be able to run WhatsApp from October this year as those phones do not have support for iOS versions 12 and above. Any users of iPhones 6 and above will be able to update the version of iOS they have on their device so that they can continue using WhatsApp.
Something else worth noting here is that we are just a couple of weeks away from Apple’s big WWDC 2022 event, where the tech giant is likely to announce iOS 16. There are many rumors swirling that say this new version of iOS won’t work on the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6S, and the original iPhone SE. This means that whereas iPhone 6 users might be safe for now, there are developments on the horizon that they should be aware of.
If you are an iPhone user and a big Fortnite fan, you may be interested to learn that there is once again a way to play Fortnite on iOS.
Image via: WABetaInfo
