WhatsApp to continue supporting BlackBerry, Nokia Platforms Till June 2017
Previously this year WhatsApp declared they would no longer be supporting BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10 handsets by the end of 2016 but it seems like they have changed their mind.
WhatsApp has confirmed that it will extend its support for BlackBerry platform in what could be seen as the most releasing news for BlackBerry users. The most extensively used messaging service earlier this year had declared that it will drop support for several mobile operating systems from 2017, including Nokia's and BlackBerry's operating systems.
The company updated its support page and added, "We will soon be ending support for certain devices. On June 30, 2017, we will no longer support the following platforms: BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, and Nokia Symbian S60."
In the FAQ section, the developer showed that BlackBerry 10, BBOS, Nokia S40, and Nokia Symbian S60 will be supported up to June 30, 2017. Though older platforms like Windows Phone 7, Android 2,1 Android 2.2, and iOS devices running iOS 6 or below will no longer be supported starting off next year.
According to WhatsApp, “These platforms don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future. If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android running OS 2.3+, a Windows Phone 8+, or an iPhone running iOS 7+ before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp.”
WhatsApp notifies that there is presently no option to transfer chat history between platforms though the company can offer chat history attached to an email if requested by users.
The messaging service had previously emphasized how much the market changed in the years since WhatsApp was introduced in 2009. Earlier, iOS and Android platforms were running on less than 25 percent of the devices, while BlackBerry and Nokia's operating systems dominated the market with roughly a 70 percent share. WhatsApp's decision to pull the plug on Symbian and BlackBerry, however, summarizes how the platforms have lost popularity.
Soon after WhatsApp's declaration to end support for BlackBerry, the Canadian company expressed its disappointment with WhatsApp's decision to abandon its platform.