App with 3 billion users stops working on hundreds of millions of phones

(Dan Tri) - WhatsApp, the messaging application with 3 billion users worldwide, has officially stopped supporting hundreds of millions of smartphones running Android and old iPhones.

WhatsApp has recently adopted a policy of only supporting iPhone devices running iOS 15.1 or later and Android phones using Android 5.0 or later.

This means that many older phone models released before 2014 – including the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Galaxy S III, Sony Xperia Z… – will no longer be able to use this popular messaging app from Meta.

Meta's original plan was to stop supporting WhatsApp on older devices on May 5, but the end of device support was later extended to early June to give users time to prepare, upgrade to newer devices, or back up their WhatsApp data.

WhatsApp messaging app will stop working on older iPhone models and Android smartphones released before 2014 (Photo: Getty).

Meta representatives said the decision to discontinue WhatsApp support on older phones was due to security and performance reasons. According to Meta, these devices no longer receive necessary security updates and lack the hardware and software features to operate the application optimally.

"Devices and operating systems are constantly changing, so we periodically review and discontinue support for outdated platforms with limited user bases," Meta explained.

Users affected by the discontinuation will receive a specific notification from WhatsApp, with recommendations to upgrade their device if they want to continue using it. Meta also recommends that users back up their data to ensure they can restore it when switching to a new device.

As of May this year, WhatsApp is the largest free messaging app in the world, with about 3.14 billion active users. Not only WhatsApp, many other popular apps are also gradually stopping support for old devices running outdated operating systems.

A few days ago, YouTube also announced that it would stop supporting older iPhone and iPad models using iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 or earlier. This means that products such as iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus, first-generation iPhone SE, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4, etc. will no longer be able to run the YouTube app.

Smartphone manufacturers and cybersecurity experts have repeatedly advised users to stop using phone models that have stopped supporting them.

The reason is that very old devices no longer receive security patches or new application updates. This leaves the devices with many unfixable vulnerabilities, making them easy targets for hackers to steal users' personal data and digital assets.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/ung-dung-3-ty-nguoi-dung-ngung-hoat-dong-tren-hang-tram-trieu-dien-thoai-20250605115424833.htm