WhatsApp will stop working for older iPhone models and Android phones starting 1 February.

According to several media reports, the chat app has withdrawn support for some versions of the iOS and Android operating systems. They're also saying "millions" of users on these unsupported devices will no longer be able to use the app or create accounts. Pocket-lint contacted WhatsApp for a confirmation. In the meantime, we spotted this support page detailing which devices are supported.

It shows Android phones running OS 4.0.3+ and iPhone models running iOS 9+ will still be able to use WhatsApp. Devices running older operating systems are out of luck. Also on that support page, WhatsApp warns: "Because we no longer actively develop for these operating systems, some features might stop functioning at any time".

Which phones will lose WhatsApp support?

Smartphones running Android version 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) or iOS 8 and older will lose support.

iPhone models

If you own an iPhone 6s or later, you are not affected. If you own an iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, or iPhone 6, you must update to iOS 9 or later to support WhatsApp. If you own an iPhone 4 or older, you cannot update to iOS 9 and can no longer use WhatsApp.

Android phones

If your Android phone was purchased after 2011, you should be fine. Older phones will need to update to Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich.
However, if you are still running Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread and can't update, you will lose WhatsApp support.

How many phones are affected?

Apple most recently said 88% of customers are running iOS 12, 7% are running iOS 11, and 5% are using earlier iOS releases. Meanwhile, only .3% of Android users are running Gingerbread, according to the Android distribution dashboard. It's hard to quantify how many devices, specifically, will lose support, but we suspect the majority of customers should be in the clear.