WhatsApp is a popular messaging app which has more than one billion users. But out of that many, there are Mobile Devices that just can't keep up with the ever-changing technology.
For that reason, the company isn't going to support older devices that include: BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10; Nokia S40; Nokia Symbian S60; Android 2.1 and Android 2.2; Windows Phone 8.0 and older; iPhone 3GS/iOS 6.
What this means, WhatsApp is forcing millions of people to upgrade their handset if they want to continue using it.
"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."
“When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people's use of mobile devices looked very different from today," said WhatsApp in its blog post. "The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia."
But fast forward, the market for mobile operating systems is conquered by Google, Apple and Microsoft. They all account to the 99.5 percent of sales. When WhatsApp was first founded, the three were selling less than 25 percent of mobile devices.
Over the years, WhatsApp has introduced a bunch of features - including voice and video calling, end-to-end encryption, support for bold and italic text, and more. But as time goes by, some of the newly introduced features won't work on older devices.
This is the main reason why WhatsApp is ceasing its support for those handsets so it can focus its efforts on improving its service for devices that are capable of accessing them all.
"As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use."