Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
66,354
35,415


WhatsApp is set to end support for iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 from May next year, removing the chat platform's compatibility with several iPhone models in the process.

Whatsapp-Feature.jpg

From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will no longer be compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus models. Users with those devices won't be able to access the encrypted chat service after the specified date unless they upgrade their iPhone.

Users who intend to upgrade can back up their WhatsApp chats to iCloud, and restore their full chat and media history to a newer, supported device using using WhatsApp's Chat Transfer feature. Instructions on how to do so are outlined in WhatsApp's Help Center.

(Via WaBetaInfo.)

Article Link: WhatsApp to Drop Support for These iPhones Starting May 2025
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Victor Mortimer
Dropping support for iPhone models...how about adding support for iPad models!?

This drives me insane. It's 2024, no iPad support is inexcusable. I'm an iOS developer, I've been doing it since the SDK was released to the public, it's not hard to support both interfaces especially if it was an iPhone app first, and I say this as someone who has to do some crazy complex interfaces at work and often needs to make a separate UI just for the phone.
 
This drives me insane. It's 2024, no iPad support is inexcusable. I'm an iOS developer, I've been doing it since the SDK was released to the public, it's not hard to support both interfaces especially if it was an iPhone app first, and I say this as someone who has to do some crazy complex interfaces at work and often needs to make a separate UI just for the phone.

The worst is that support was initially added to a beta version two summers ago but they never released it to the public.
 
Never WhatsApp.

When I tried it some years ago, it would not create an account without access to all my contacts.
So forget it. This is one of the most despicable things an app can do.

You are giving Meta all details of everyone in your contacts. Say you have a friend who needs to use a false name online. Perhaps they are on the run from a violent partner, or government.

Meta can now x-ref the phone number and see their full name and address.

You may need to use a false name on FB. Zuck is sitting there laughing at you because 20 of your friends have already betrayed you by uploading their contacts to Meta.

And Zuck is up to his neck in bl00d with Lavender.

Never allow them access to your contacts.
 
No matter what the article, build it and they will come.

Post it and they will reply.
 
Never WhatsApp.

When I tried it some years ago, it would not create an account without access to all my contacts.
So forget it. This is one of the most despicable things an app can do.

You are giving Meta all details of everyone in your contacts. Say you have a friend who needs to use a false name online. Perhaps they are on the run from a violent partner, or government.

Meta can now x-ref the phone number and see their full name and address.

You may need to use a false name on FB. Zuck is sitting there laughing at you because 20 of your friends have already betrayed you by uploading their contacts to Meta.

And Zuck is up to his neck in bl00d with Lavender.

Never allow them access to your contacts.
It’s not that deep lol. This paranoia ppl have is wild.
 
This drives me insane. It's 2024, no iPad support is inexcusable. I'm an iOS developer, I've been doing it since the SDK was released to the public, it's not hard to support both interfaces especially if it was an iPhone app first, and I say this as someone who has to do some crazy complex interfaces at work and often needs to make a separate UI just for the phone.
The worst thing is that there is a MacOS app and iPad support in a closed beta. Having a WhatsApp app on non-phone devices clearly works and there must be a commercial reason why it's being held back from iPad. I can't work out what that reason is though...
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Victor Mortimer
Same here in Brazil 😪
I think it's the same in most non-US countries. Before the days of RCS and in markets where iPhone ownership was <50%, WhatsApp got in early as the easy way to set up groups with lots of features that was cross-OS. Whilst Meta ownership is not a great look, WhatsApp now has critical mass in most of the world so will remain the default platform.
 
Officially WhatsApp isn't GDPR compliant (it uploads contacts to Meta servers in the USA), in practice most people ignore that. There is a WhatsApp for Business, if you have any business contacts on your phone, otherwise your employer could end up in hot water...

We tend to use Signal, which is the underlying protocol for WhatsApp anyway, but it only uploads a hash of the contacts' numbers, to see if they are on the service, as opposed to all of the contact information.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Victor Mortimer
After spending over four years trying to get my friends and family to switch to iMessage, I finally gave up and went back to using WhatsApp full-time. One major reason is iMessage's terrible storage management. Have you ever tried deleting attachments there? It’s an absolute nightmare. On WhatsApp, I can just click "Select All," then "Delete All," and it even gives me the option to delete all copies. iMessage has nothing like that. You STILL need to tap on each damn photo in an endless list of photos, not even a swipe down option to mass select attachments.

Plus, WhatsApp offers features iMessage lacks, like custom wallpapers, status and a one-time viewing option for photos (so I’m not stuck with every screenshot or memes permanently saved).
 
Last edited:
and this is how it happens eu gets usb c charging in iPhones , right to repair then apps get killed for old devices making it all pointless apparently according to garmin my mac is too old to update the satnav its updated for 7 odd years it’s no longer able not getting a new computer to update a satnav .
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.