Millions Worldwide to Lose Access to WhatsApp from Nov 1

Femi Ashekun/

Facebook-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp, has announced it will cease support of its mobile app on multiple devices from November 1.

In addition to stopping support for older smart devices, the tech giant has also taken unprecedented steps to block affected smartphones from being able to continue to use the service.

According to reports, affected users will be required to update their smart devices, or buy a new one in order to continue to use WhatsApp.

The reason behind ending support for certain OS versions is that aging phones running old software build no longer receive security updates, which means they are left vulnerable to attacks.

Additionally, most of these old phones have ‘ancient’ hardware that either doesn’t support the advanced features of an app or offers a poor experience.

Security research firm TitanTech has identified over 40 different devices that will be affected by the development.

Android users running Android 4.1 or below and iPhone users running anything older than iOS 10 will see WhatsApp blocked on their device.

Android devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy S2 and S3, and a few Huawei devices are among those to be affected.

In terms of iPhone, around 2 per cent of the 7NEWS online audience will see WhatsApp blocked. If you’re still using an

Also iPhone 4 and older, or devices that haven’t updated iPhone 6S, 6S Plus or SE (2016) will need to get the latest available update.

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