WhatsApp issues urgent 24-hour countdown - your chats may stop working today
WhatsApp has warned owners of some iPhones that their chats, calls and group messages might stop working today, May 5.
Anyone with an ageing iPhone in their pocket might want to seriously consider upgrading to something new today. WhatsApp recently confirmed that it was ending all support for some older Apple devices, and that deadline will come into effect from today, May 5. Once the change is enforced, chat, video calls and group messages will no longer work.
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The Meta-owned service is no stranger to updating its list of compatible devices, with both Android and iPhones dropping off the supported list at least once a year. WhatsApp says it has to make the changes to keep pace with security and feature upgrades that simply won't work on more vintage call makers.
So, who will be affected by this latest 2025 update?
Luckily, as long as you have a relatively new iPhone, you'll be fine and will not miss out on chats with friends and family.
This change is only targeting call makers that can't run on iOS 15.1 and newer.
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That means this update will affect the Phone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus which were all released over 10 years ago and have lost support for the latest iOS upgrades. If you have one of those phones, you only have hours left before the block.
Announcing the update, WhatsApp said: "Starting May 5, 2025, only iOS versions 15.1 and newer will be supported."
If you do have one of those devices listed above then now is a good time to think about switching things up.
You might even fancy getting the latest iPhone 16 or 16e which now feature clever Apple Intelligence which helps write your emails, retouch your photos and sort your inbox automatically.
Explaining more about its decision to turn off support, WhatsApp said, "Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates.
"Every year we look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest users. These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp."
