14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is getting ready to drop support for two more iOS versions when it comes to the operating system supported by WhatsApp, with the whole thing very likely to take place in late October.
The Meta-owned app will no longer work on iOS 10 and iOS 11, which means that Apple users who want to run the app on their iPhones will have to install at least iOS 12.
Discovered by WABetaInfo, the change is apparently projected to take place on October 24, so until this date, the application will continue to run normally even on these older versions of iOS.
“Before we stop supporting your operating system, you'll be notified directly in WhatsApp ahead of time and reminded a few times to upgrade,” WhatsApp explains.
Dropping support for older operating systems
WhatsApp giving up on support for old versions of the operating systems its application is currently available on isn’t by any means news, as the company does this regularly to focus on the releases where the majority of users currently are.
“Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates. To choose what to stop supporting, every year we, like other technology companies, look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest number of people still using them. These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp,” the company says.
iOS 10 was released no less than 6 years ago, so it goes without saying that not a lot of iPhones are still running it today. According to official stats, the majority of iPhones out there are currently on iOS 14 and iOS 15, with only a very small share currently running older releases.