No WhatsApp for BlackBerry anymore

Whatsapp

If you own a BlackBerry; no WhatsApp for you. WhatsApp has announced that it will no longer support the App by the end of this year.

Just like Facebook, WhatsApp is used by more than 1billion people across the world and it’s planning to end its support for not just BlackBerry, but also older versions of Nokia, Android and Windows Phone software.

Over the years, BlackBerry has maintained a decent following because of its reliable email services and tactile keyboard. In the past, BlackBerry had incredible security system that nobody could hack their way into the phone or track it, but the phone’s ability was later disabled by nations since many drag peddlers switched to BlackBerry and other feature phones.

Recently, BlackBerry released the Priv which is the company’s first android smartphone and it’s doing relatively well in the market because android has a wider coverage. However, after the release of Priv, BlackBerry continued releasing phones that use their operating system which is sad because they will go without WhatsApp.

According to Telegraph, when the messaging app, now owned by Facebook, was started in 2009, it was developed for BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian, the dominant smartphone platforms at the time, and faced tough competition from BlackBerry’s own BBM.

Android, iOS and Windows Phone had less than a quarter of the market. But the Canadian manufacturer’s share of smartphone sales now stands at just 0.2pc, according to Gartner, with smartphones running BlackBerry OS selling 1.7 million units.

WhatsApp said it had made a “tough decision” to stop supporting BlackBerry by the end of 2017. “As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use,” it said.

WhatsApp told BlackBerry users to upgrade by buying a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016. In addition, the company said that it would end support for Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1.

“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” WhatsApp said.

Erick Vateta564 Posts

--- Erick Vateta is a lawyer by training, poet, script and creative writer by talent, a model, and tech enthusiast. He covers International tech trends, data security and cyber attacks.

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