Popular message service, Whatsapp, has already stopped supporting a number of devices on December 31, but there will be further restrictions from February 1.
From February 1 users older versions of iPhones and Android smartphones will no longer be able to create new accounts or reverify existing accounts.
This includes phones running on Android versions 2.3.7 and older, and iPhones on iOS 8 or older.
If you have an older smartphone and don’t want to lose all your chats on 1st February, there’s a fairly simple way to save your chat history.
Open the chat you wish to export, and tap on Group Info.
Scroll down and tap ‘Export Chat’. You’ll then be given the option to download the chat with or without media – note the attaching media will generate a larger chat archive.
Most smartphones are compatible with more up-to-date operating systems, for example, iOS 9 is available for iPhones going back as far as the iPhone 4s.
To find out which operating system your iPhone uses, go to Settings, then General, then Software Update – your current version will be displayed there.
And if you use Android, you need to go to ‘Settings,’ then ‘About Phone’ and then ‘Software Info’.
