Every year WhatsApp, the instant messaging application owned by Facebook, updates its service. The new features that it incorporates mean that the application can no longer work on some mobiles with old operating systems. On November 1 it is the turn of the terminals whose last update of the software was that of Android 4.04, and iOS 9 in the case of iPhones. The smartphones These versions went on sale a decade ago, but there are probably still quite a few units in use.
Tech companies typically guarantee two to three years of operating system updates for their smartphones since they go on sale. If your mobile stopped receiving updates a long time ago, the new properties that WhatsApp incorporates may no longer be compatible with your phone. Even if it is not up to date, you can continue to use other features of the device, but not this messaging application. For iPhones, Apple usually guarantees updates to software for longer: some of its terminals have been able to download them for seven years.
If you want to continue using the WhatsApp application as of next Monday, the company insists that your phone must have “the Android 4.1 operating system or a later version” and it will have to be able to “receive SMS messages or calls during the Verification process”. Apple devices must have iOS 10 or later.
To check if your smartphone is stuck on Android 4.04, in the general settings of your phone there is an option that allows you to see the information of the phone and that is usually found at the beginning or at the end of that menu. Among the data that appears in this section, such as the device model and the serial number, is the Android version or the version of the software. If your terminal has a version below Android 4.1, it is convenient to check if it has available updates, since, if so, perhaps the downloadable version will allow you to continue using WhatsApp. To make sure you have updates available, the option to check for updates usually appears in the same window where you can check the Android version. of the software. If any appear, you will have the option to update the system, and if not, it will specify that no updates were found.
In Apple devices, through the phone settings, you have to look for the General option. By clicking on it, you can see a drop-down with the phone information and an option to update the software. In the first option, you can see the version of iOS you have; in the second, you can check if there is an update available.
In the event that you cannot update your smartphone, WhatsApp recommends that you save a backup in the cloud with your conversation history (if you don’t want to lose them). That way, if you decide to change devices, you can recover the chats by re-downloading the application on the new one. smartphone. In the WhatsApp menu, which is usually displayed in the upper right corner, when entering the chat settings, the option to make a backup appears. When inserting an email (something that has surely been requested in the past), the copy will be stored in Google Drive or, on iPhones, in iCloud. On both Android and iOS you can export the chats to a file that gives you the option of including the images, videos or documents exchanged with your contacts.
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