WhatsApp is growing and revising its strategy, and some operating systems will no longer be part of its journey.
By the end of the year, WhatsApp will ditch support for BlackBerry (including BB10 OS), Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1. Newer versions of Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile will still enjoy WhatsApp support, although Android and iOS rule the mobile market.
"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," WhatsApp explains in its announcement.
The news comes after WhatsApp celebrated its seventh anniversary, and the company took advantage of the occasion to look back on what it has achieved and think about what it plans to do next.
WhatsApp recalls that when it started out back in 2009, the way people used their mobile devices painted a completely different scene compared to what it is now. Roughly 70 percent of all smartphones sold then were from BlackBerry and Nokia, with their respective mobile operating systems.
Today, Google's, Apple's and Microsoft's mobile operating system account for 99.5 percent of sales, but back in 2009 they only held a meager 25 percent. With these great changes in mind, it makes sense for WhatsApp to want to let go of the past and focus on the present and future.
"As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use," adds the company.
WhatsApp recently surpassed 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs) and continues to be on the rise, and its latest decision to drop annual subscription fees is expected to attract even more users.
At the same time, the news that some operating systems will no longer be supported may be disappointing to some users, especially those in developing markets where Nokia's older OS still holds some market share.
As for BlackBerry, the end of WhatsApp support may be more surprising but still understandable. Considering that BlackBerry itself is putting its own OS on the sidelines to focus on Android, we can't really blame WhatsApp for doing the same.
In conclusion, WhatsApp users with devices running on one of the aforementioned operating systems might want to upgrade to an iPhone, a modern Android smartphone or a Windows Phone 8.1 / Windows 10 Mobile device by the end of the year.
