Meta-owned WhatsApp has formally announced that it will stop working on older Android smartphones from September 8, 2026, with the messaging application raising its minimum operating system requirement from Android 5.0 to Android 6.0. WhatsApp is notifying affected users by displaying an alert as soon as they open the app, with the message stating that starting on September 8, 2026, WhatsApp will no longer be available on specific versions of Android. The decision affects users still running Android 5.0 and Android 5.1, the versions codenamed Lollipop that were first released in 2014, making them over a decade old by the time the cutoff arrives.
According to StatCounter data, Android 5 still powers approximately 0.7 percent of active devices globally, and with Google reporting over three billion active Android devices in use, that fraction translates to several million smartphones that will lose access to WhatsApp after the deadline. The impact is expected to be felt most acutely in regions where older smartphones remain common, with WhatsApp specifically naming parts of Southeast Asia, India, Brazil, Pakistan, and Africa as markets where a significant number of users still rely on devices running aging versions of Android. For many users in these markets, a smartphone is a primary or sole means of communication, and WhatsApp in particular functions as the dominant messaging platform for everything from personal conversations to small business transactions.
The change applies to both WhatsApp Messenger and WhatsApp Business, as they share the same underlying code and system requirements. iOS is not affected by the upcoming change, with WhatsApp continuing to support iPhones and iPads running iOS or iPadOS 15.1 and later. The move is consistent with WhatsApp’s ongoing approach to periodically revising its minimum system requirements, a pattern that saw the last Android threshold adjustment in 2023 and the iOS entry barrier raised in June 2025. The company says the phase-out is necessary to maintain performance, stability, and compatibility with newer features that rely on more modern versions of Android, allowing the platform to introduce updates without being constrained by legacy software limitations.
For users on affected devices, WhatsApp and technology experts are recommending a clear course of action ahead of the September deadline. Users should first check whether their phone can be updated to Android 6.0 or newer through the device’s settings menu, as some devices running Android 5 may have an upgrade path that owners have simply not yet used. Those whose phones are no longer eligible for updates should back up their chats before the deadline, either to Google Drive or through a local backup saved to the device’s internal storage, which can later be transferred manually to a newer handset. Budget Android phones that support Android 6.0 and above are widely available, meaning the barrier to continued WhatsApp access need not be a costly one for most users. With several months remaining before the cutoff, those on older devices have adequate time to plan and migrate without disruption.
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