JAKARTA — Starting 2019, phones of several Nokia series that use Series 40 ( S40 ) as their operating system will no longer be able to run the instant messaging app WhatsApp.
WhatsApp announced it would end support for the phones at the turn of the year.
On its website, the Facebook-owned company stated it would only provide technical support for smartphones that use at least Android 4.0, Windows Phone 8.1, iOS 8, JioPhone or JioPhone 2, reported kompas.com. This means users of Nokia phones running OS S40, such as the Asha 501, 210 and 301 models, will no longer be able to use WhatsApp. Not only that, they won’t be able to transfer their chat history to other platforms either.
“Once you have one of these devices, simply install WhatsApp and verify your phone number on the new device. Keep in mind that WhatsApp can only be activated with one phone number on one device at a time,” stated the company.
“Furthermore, there’s currently no option to transfer your chat history between platforms. However, we provide the option to export your chat history as an email attachment.”
WhatsApp also announced that it would end support for Android 2.3.7 and iOS 7 in 2020. Users of these devices will be able to continue using the app but can no longer create new accounts.
“Because we’ll no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time,” the company warned.