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WhatsApp to not run on three famous phones in next few hours

WhatsApp will now only run on Apple devices that have iOS operating system 15.1 or later

GNN Web Desk
Published 3 hours ago on May 6th 2025, 1:21 pm
By Web Desk
WhatsApp to not run on three famous phones in next few hours

Karachi: WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular messaging applications with over 2 billion users worldwide, but within just a few hours, the Meta-owned platform WhatsApp will stop working on three popular phones.

WhatsApp will now only run on Apple devices that have iOS operating system 15.1 or later. Currently, any iPhone that is capable of running iOS 12 or later can use WhatsApp. Anyone using these three Apple devices will not be able to send or receive messages on WhatsApp from today.

After today’s date, WhatsApp will only run on Apple devices that have iOS 15.1 or later. The affected devices include the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. Although these phones now make up a small portion of WhatsApp users, this decision will disappoint many fans of older devices.

A WhatsApp spokesperson told Mail Online that every year, we look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest users. These devices may not have the latest security updates, or they may lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp.

Currently, any iPhone capable of running iOS 12 or later can use WhatsApp. However, this will change when the Meta-owned company releases its next major software update. Devices that are not able to update to at least iOS 15.1 or higher will not be able to use any of WhatsApp's features.

It is pertinent to note that Apple also stopped supporting these models some time ago. The oldest of the affected phones, the iPhone 5s, was released a decade ago in 2013, while the iPhone 6 Plus was released just a year later in 2014. All of these iPhone models were discontinued by Apple in 2016 and were officially declared obsolete.

Being on the obsolete product list means that Apple will not provide service, parts to service providers, or issue important software and security updates for the device.

In addition to WhatsApp, Spotify, and Instagram are already unavailable on all of these older devices. WhatsApp has said that devices and software change frequently, so we regularly review which operating systems we support and update.

To check which operating system you are currently using, open the Settings -> select General -> Tap the About tab. Under the Version heading, you will be able to see the current iOS version number. If you need to update your iPhone, go to the tab labeled General and select Software Update.

On the other hand, Meta said that Meta AI is an optional service from Meta through WhatsApp that can answer your questions, teach you something, or help you with new ideas. However, as soon as the feature started rolling out to British users, many people were unhappy with the change.

On X, one user wrote, “How do I get rid of Meta AI in WhatsApp? The button keeps hovering in the way and I will never use it,” while another user joked that such a big ‘Ask AI’ button, WhatsApp should leave me alone for God's sake.

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