WhatsApp: Three older iPhones to be phased out from May 2025

Owners of three older iPhone generations will have to get a newer device from spring 2025 if they want to continue using the WhatsApp messenger. This affects the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This is because WhatsApp aims to raise the minimum requirement for the iPhone operating system in May. It is common practice for the backwards compatibility of apps to end at some point with a view to further developments.

From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will only work on iPhones that have at least iOS 15.1 installed, reports the online portal WABetaInfo, which regularly provides information about new test versions and updates of WhatsApp. Users of affected devices would have received a corresponding warning message on their iPhones. WhatsApp can currently still be used back to iOS 12. The jump is therefore large, but is probably due to the fact that the developers apparently want to use newer APIs that were introduced with iOS 15.

Plans for SharePlay?

WhatsApp may be planning to use SharePlay, which was introduced with iOS 15.1 in October 2021. SharePlay enables shared actions with other users, such as watching movies and series in sync, listening to music together or using apps and games, as well as the ability to share the screen. According to reports, Meta has been testing new functions similar to SharePlay since the end of 2023.

The iPhone 5s was released by Apple in September 2013. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus followed a year later. The penetration rate of these ten and eleven-year-old models is probably no longer quite as high. iOS 12 was released in September 2018. It was the last version of the iPhone operating system supported by these iPhones. The iPhone 6s, on the other hand, is already compatible up to iOS 15.

(mki)