WhatsApp is undoubtedly the most widely used cross-platform messaging service out there. It recently celebrated its seventh anniversary with more than one billion active users who are spread across a variety of platforms. That’s really one of the reasons why this service has been so popular, it has been available on most widely used platforms, and it feels that it’s best to give up on some now, so WhatsApp is giving up on BlackBerry OS.
The Facebook-owned company has confirmed that it will discontinue its official app for BlackBerry by the end of 2016. The decision doesn’t just cover legacy versions of BB OS, it even covers BlackBerry 10, an OS that has been around for less than two years.
The company has also confirmed that it’s going to discontinue the app on Nokia’s low-end S40 and S60 Sybian platforms as well as the Windows Phone 7.1 and Android 2.2 versions.
If you’re affected by this decision WhatsApp offers you a simple remedy, “upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone” will enable you to use WhatsApp just like before.
BlackBerry users who want to stick with the company can pick up the BlackBerry Priv, its current flagship handset, which also happens to be the first Android-powered smartphone that BlackBerry has ever built. It runs Lollipop so there’s full support for WhatsApp. If you’re sticking with your old BB or even a year-old device powered by BB10 you should start looking for alternatives now.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, BlackBerry and Whatsapp.