There’s been a few news sites that have recently picked up the story of how WhatsApp will stop working for certain iPhones and Androids in 2021. However, the story was already reported a year ago in 2019, and there’s nothing new either.
Basically, in December 2019 news portals reported that users of older phone operating systems will no longer be able to use WhatsApp from 1 February 2020. This means that phones that are running on iOS 9, and Android 4.0.3 and newer wouldn’t have any problems with accessing the chat app in 2021.
Even phones like the iPhone 4s—launched in 2011—will be able to run WhatsApp as it has been updated till iOS 9.3.5. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy S2 and the original Galaxy Note run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and they let users access the app next year as well.
According to WhatsApp, they also said that the news is “nothing new”. They also said that the phones are already not supported, which means that if your phone has access to WhatsApp right now, it most likely will work in 2021.
“They are just talking about the WhatsApp policy change that was announced in December 2019, and somehow connecting it to January 1, 2021,” said WhatsApp about the news.
In order to find out what operating system your phone is running on, iPhone users can go to Settings > General > Information. Android users, on the other hand, can go to Settings > About Phone to see which version their smartphone is running on.
