WhatsApp will not work anymore on Symbian phones after December 31, 2016. The company has begun informing users of this old operating system about the decision by a pop-up notification which reads “Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use WhatsApp after 31/12/2016 because WhatsApp will no longer support your phone.”
In the beginning of this year, during the month of February, WhatsApp – now owned by Facebook Inc. – declared that it will scrap its service from numerous Operating Systems including BlackBerry OS and Nokia’s Symbian from 2017.
The California-based instant messaging application had suggested users of these bygone operating systems to switch over to a newer iPhone, Android smartphone or Windows Phone before the ending of 2016 to continue using their service.
In 2009, when WhatsApp Messenger was launched, the mobile market was dominated by BlackBerry and Nokia. About 70 percent devices ran on BlackBerry and Symbian operating systems. Android and iOS had below 25 percent share in the market. WhatsApp’s decision emphasizes the demotion of BlackBerry and Nokia over the time.
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The messenger application had also decided to stop its service for phones running Android 2.2 or below, Windows Phone 7.1, BlackBerry OS (including BlackBerry OS 10), Nokia S60, Nokia S40 and iOS 6 and below within the end of this year.
WhatsApp has been working on adding numerous new functions and features to its messaging platform. The old operating systems will be an obstruction on the way for implementation of these additional features. The company states that the lack of adequate ability of these senile operating systems to support advanced functions as the main reason behind the decision of ending the service.
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After December 31, 2016, the servers dedicated to the Symbian, Blackberry and other old operating system will be retired or be reassigned to do other jobs.
WhatsApp has recently made its messenger application available for computers running Windows 8 or above and Macs with OS X 10.9 or later.
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