WhatsApp is set to become unavailable for thousands of users as it ends support for these specific Android and iPhone models.
Fireworks could be bringing in more than just the new year for some, it could mean it’s time to find a new messaging app.
That’s because WhatsApp is dropping its service from certain smartphones, leaving many users without the app.
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From January 1 2025, the popular messaging app will no longer run on Android KitKat or earlier which means you’ll need to upgrade to a newer model if you want to keep using it.
Meta, which is the firm behind WhatsApp, revealed that they’ll be discontinuing the support on these older models.
This is because it has said that the older devices lack the hardware ability for the evolving and updating features and functions of WhatsApp.
Some new features coming to WhatsApp includes artificial intelligence which many devices won’t be able to support.
Here’s a list of phone models that will be affected by the change:
- Samsung Galaxy S3
- Samsung Galaxy Note 2
- Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
- Motorola Moto G (1st Gen)
- Motorola Razr HD
- Moto E 2014
- HTC One X
- HTC One X+
- HTCDesire 500
- HTCDesire 601
- LG Optimus G
- LG Nexus 4
- LG G2 Mini
- LG L90
- Sony Xperia Z
- Sony Xperia SP
- Sony Xperia T
- Sony Xperia V
If your phone is on the list then you’ll need to make sure that you back up your WhatsApp data or else you’ll risk losing your chat history.
And it isn’t just Androids that have been affected by changes to the app.
Meta revealed a few months ago that it was halting support to older iPhones.
This included any Apple device using iOS older than 15.1.
If your iPhone is one of them, you’ll have until May 2025 to upgrade.
It cited similar issues with introducing AI to WhatsApp on iPhones, making it necessary to have an up to date iOS.
It looks like AI isn’t going anywhere and it could even be making waves in the plant world as well as with humans.
Researchers have been able to develop an AI model that can understand plants in a similar way that ChatGPT learns the human language.
The artificially intelligent model, which is called Plant RNA-FM, is busy learning all of the structure, sequences and patterns of the genetic makeup of plants.
In order to unlock the language of plants, the AI has trained on 54 billion pieces of RNA, which has enabled it to develop a genetic alphabet of 1,124 different plant species.