Mumbai: Facebook-owned messaging platform Whatsapp recently announced that it would discontinue its services for older operating systems by the end of 2016.
Whatsapp, which turned seven years old earlier this week, said in a blog post that it will stop supporting aged operating systems such as Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1.
When the company started off in 2009, the mobile operating systems offered by Google, Microsoft, and Apple—which account for 99.5 per cent sales today—were present on less than 25 per cent of the handsets.
Moreover, about 70 per cent of smartphones sold during that time had either Blackberry or Nokia based operating systems.
The company has decided to lay greater emphasis on security features and add more ways for seamless communication. However, older operating systems and smartphones do not offer the tools required for future integrations planned by Whatsapp.
“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future,” the blog said.
“This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp,” it added.
