BlackBerry users will not use IM app anymore

Popular social media platform, WhatsApp, has announced that it will be stopping support for its app on several mobile platforms.

According to various media reports, the company plans to focus its efforts on the mobile platforms people actually use and that’s why it will be ending support for the following platforms by the end of 2016:

BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10
Nokia S40
Nokia Symbian S60
Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
Windows Phone 7.1

I must admit that it is very strange that the company is stopping support for the BlackBerry operating system, especially BlackBerry 10.

Blackberry 10 may not be big in the western world but in emerging markets, it still maintains a considerable share of the market - WhatsApp wyd?

According to WhatsApp, when it launched in 2009, around 70 percent of smartphones shipped with either BlackBerry or Nokia OS's but all of that has changed since Android, iOS, and Windows have overtaken BlackBerry on a global scale.

If you use WhatsApp frequently, the company is advising you to get a newer phone as it will be stopping support for the above listed operating systems before the end of 2016.

The company believes the move will help the WhatsApp developers focus on mobile platforms that the majority of its customers are using.

So if you use a phone that operates on the operating systems mentioned above, start saving!