From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp no longer supports older versions of iOS and Android. This means that users with an older smartphone will lose access to the most popular Message app.
It is not surprising that WhatsApp stops supporting older smartphones. It is simply not possible to continue to support all hardware infinitely. So it was only a matter of time that the support of some old devices is stopped.
Minimum iOS version for WhatsApp
As described in the recent updated system requirements From WhatsApp, users must have a smartphone on which at least iOS 15.1 or Android 5.0 is installed to be able to access the messaging service after 5 May 2025.
In addition, the chat app stops supporting telephones with Kaios. Before Meta will stop support for these devices, all affected users will be informed of this in time. Users of a Windows telephone can no longer use WhatsApp since 31 December 2019. This is partly due to the fact that they have not been produced for some time.
Impact for iPhone users
Because iOS 15.1 is required for using the app, you can only use whatsapp after 05/05/2025 on an iPhone 7 or newer. In practice, this means that the support for iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S stops.
Make sure that, if possible, the iOS version of your iPhone has been updated to iOS 15.1 or higher to meet the new minimal WhatsApp requirements.
Keep in mind that the system requirements will probably also be increased again in the future, so that support for the messaging service on the iPhone 7 or newer will be canceled.
For Android smartphones, the support of devices that were launched around 2016 or earlier. You can use the full list of system requirements for the app This page Read back.