The old -isted WhatsApp users will soon find themselves unable to reach the messaging platform, as the company prepares to withdraw support for select equipment starting next month. The messaging service has confirmed that iPhones running on iOS 15.1 or earlier will no longer be compatible with WhatsApp from May 2025. Although the app currently supports iPhones operating iPhones of iOS 12 and above, will reduce the latest policy change list, causing many older models such as iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.

One of the major reasons for this move is security. Apple itself has stopped rolling the software updates for these old iOS versions, which puts the devices at high risk of safety hazards. Without regular safety patch, users are more weak for potential violations, motivating WhatsApp to encourage upgrades in new models and software versions.

In recent months, WhatsApp has rolled out a series of updates focused on strengthening user privacy and security. One of the major additions is an advanced privacy layer that prevents others from copying lessons, images or videos from chats and groups. Its purpose is to prevent sensitive information from easily shared or abused without permission. Along with this, WhatsApp has refined existing features such as chat lock, which allows users to protect specific conversations with an additional layer of safety, such as passwords, fingerprints or face IDs. The missing messages, which automatically remove themselves after a prescribed period, have also seen improvement, which gives users more flexibility to control how long their messages appear.

Another notable feature is silence unknown callers, which blocks the call from the numbers saved in the user contacts. It helps reduce spam and potential scam calls, providing a cool, more secure message experience. WhatsApp has also introduced the privacy checkup, which is a simple step-by-step guide within the app, which runs through key privacy settings to users, which helps them better understanding and optimizing their privacy options.

It is worth noting that while these features are designed to be accessible to more and more users, some older iPhones and Android devices cannot fully support them all due to hardware limitations. For example, features that require advanced biometric authentication or some levels of processing power cannot perform smoothly on aging devices.

The iOS 15 is already considered old – behind the three generations behind the latest iOS versions – user sticking to old iphones can be difficult to maintain with modern app requirements. Those who plan to continue using WhatsApp are advised to switch to new models such as iPhone 13 or iPhone 14, which are compatible with recent software updates.