This Monday, November 1, 2021, WhatsApp will stop working on very old versions of Android, released over nine years ago.Here is how to check if you are affected by this change, as well as what you can do.

The very old versions of Android still supported by WhatsApp will be abandoned this Monday, November 1, 2021.A message published in the help pages of the mobile application indeed prevents upcoming change: from this date, all smartphones equipped with version 4.0.4 will no longer be supported.This also applies to the lower branches.

What to do to continue using WhatsApp?

To avoid an interruption of service, it is necessary to carry out an update of the operating system as soon as possible, to assume that this is possible.Indeed, all smartphones do not have access to all Android updates: some too old models - because they already had a few years on the counter - could be abandoned by their manufacturers.

If the update is not technically possible, the operation of the instant messaging will cease.People in this situation will then have to consider acquiring a more recent mobile, which has access to a recent version of Android.Furthermore, the mobile application suggests leading to a safeguard of discussions, in case.

The WhatsApp messaging app.

How do you know if that concerns you?

There are three ways to check if this change concerns you.First of all, you just have to ask the question of the age of your smartphone: if yours has been released less than ten years ago, and you have acquired it in stride, no worries tohave: it was delivered by default with a more recent version of Android (for example 4.4, 7 or 10, depending on the time you made your purchase).

You can also ask yourself the question of the last time you have updated your Android smartphone.Even for smartphones released nine, ten or eleven years ago, the manufacturers make sure to offer a support of a few years each time.Clearly, phones have had access to more recent branches - for exampleAndroid 4.1, who arrived in July 2012.

A screen example to control its Android version.

However, the ideal remains to directly check the version of Android in its smartphone.The path to access it can change from one smartphone to another (and especially from one generation of Android to another), but as a rule you have to go to the parameters of your bone, descend in a sectionCalled "about the phone" and find the indication "version of Android".A number is displayed then.

WhatsApp has provided support for almost 10 years

Android 4.0.4 is an evolution ofAndroid 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) dating from October 2011.Android 4.0.4 itself released in March 2012, nine and a half years ago, which means that the smartphones that turn with this bone are from that time, or even older.Since then, many major versions of Android have been released, the 12th being the last.

The fact is that most of the time, a smartphone is renewed at a relatively common pace, between two and four years.In fact, the number of people who could be affected by WhatsApp's decision is reduced.According to statistics from February 2021, the combined market share of all Android versions below Android 4.0.4 reached barely 0.2 % of the total.

Compte tenu de l’âge très avancé affiché parAndroid 4.0.4 (more than nine years on the clock, which is antediluvian in a market where the smartphone is renewed on a closer horizon) and on the residual market share of this version (even if we can argue that on scale DAndroid, a market share of 0.2 % represents tens or hundreds of thousands of customers), WhatsApp's decision defends itself.

This is not the first time that instant messaging has come out of the bones that are too old or that finish in a dead end: the company has already announced in the past similar decisions for Android and iOS, but also for systemsof exploitation that ended up disappearing, for lack of outlet: Blackberry OS, Symbian OS or Windows Phone.