WhatsApp is about to stop working on a range of old smartphones, meaning owners will have to buy newer gadgets if they want to continue using the chat app to the best of its capabilities .
On New Year ’ s Day , WhatsApp will ‘ remove support ’ for a number of devices – which updated versions of the software can no longer be installed on them .

This means owners of these clapped out gizmos won ’ t be able to enjoy new features or plugs for security holes which are often introduced in updates .
From January 1 , 2018, anyone still using phones which run *BlackBerry OS , BlackBerry 10 or Windows Phone 8 . 0* will no longer be able to update their WhatsApp software.

In a blog post, WhatsApp wrote: “ 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 .
“ This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family , and loved ones using WhatsApp .
“ If you use one of these affected mobile devices , we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone , or Windows Phone . ”

Last year , WhatsApp dropped its support for Nokia Symbian S60 phones . It will do the same for Nokia S40 handsets on December 31 2018 and then devices running Android 2 . 3 . 7 and older after 1 February , 2020 .