WhatsApp announced that starting September 8, 2026, the application will no longer support all Android devices running versions older than 6.0. With this, smartphones still using Android 5.0 or 5.1 will not be able to run WhatsApp after that date.
According to the WABetaInfo site, this change was made because WhatsApp wants to maintain the performance and stability of the application while ensuring support for new features that require a more modern system. Therefore, affected users will receive a warning in the application so that they are prepared before support is terminated. As a preparatory step, they are advised to back up their conversations either on Google Drive or use a backup directly on the phone before switching to a newer device or operating system.
This notification only applies to Android users while iOS devices are not affected because WhatsApp still supports iPhones and iPads with iOS/iPadOS 15.1 and above. This change is expected to have a major impact on users in countries that still rely heavily on older phones, especially in India, Brazil, Pakistan, Southeast Asia and Africa.
