Yes, you read it right! WhatsApp is ending its support for a bunch of Android devices from November 1 i.e: Monday.
WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app in the globe with over 2 billion MAU (monthly-active-users), is just a few days away to stop working on some Android devices working on the older version of the Linux-based operating system; Android.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has suggested users shift to a supported device to continue using its messaging service. Supported devices include those devices having Android version 4.1 and above.
On its updated FAQ Page, WhatsApp announced that starting from November 1, Monday the company will no longer be able to offer supports for Android devices running on Android version 4.0.4 or below. Furthermore, iPhone devices below iOS 9 will not support WhatsApp.
With WhatsApp ending its support, it means that the affected users (users below Jelly bean update i.e 4.1) need to back up their chats before the deadline to avoid losing the chat data.
Having said that let’s see how to check the Android version.
How to Check Android Version on Your Device
By checking the Android version, you can identify if your device will get WhatsApp support or not.
To check the device version, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- First step is go to your phone’s Settings and then to About phone
- Scroll down and search for the Android version of your device
- If your device’s Android version is 4.0.4 or below, make a shift to a higher version Android phone.
However, before switching to a higher version android phone, you need to backup your chat or export them.
To backup your WhatsApp chats, go to WhatsApp’s Settings > Chats > Chat backup > Back up
Alternatively, WhatsApp offers the option to export the chat of a user or a specific group.
To do so, you need to go to the individual chat or the group that you wish to export.
Now, tap the three-dot menu (available to the right of WhatsApp’s conversation screen) for more options.
The next step is to tap on More > Export chat
Now, WhatsApp will offer you two options for exporting individual or group chat.
- Export with media files (audio, images and video files)
- Export without media files
Note: This method only exports one chat at a time. So if you want all the chats to be backed up, go for the first method. The second method is only useful for the users who want to migrate their chats to other messaging platforms like Telegram and Signal.
Featured Image: whatsapp.com
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