WhatsApp to stop support for older versions of Android

The new version of the WhatsApp messenger will no longer have support for older versions of the Android mobile operating system, WABetaInfo, a resource specializing in news about the popular messenger, reports.

“Please note that this update is no longer compatible with Android versions below 5.0. As such, WhatsApp is discontinuing support for older versions of Android,” the website said.

Thus, WatsApp will no longer support Android 4.4 KitKat (the operating system was released in 2013) and will start requiring Google to use Android 5.0 (released in 2014) and newer versions of the operating system.

According to WABetaInfo experts, this solution will allow developers to focus on creating new features for the majority of users of newer versions of the Android operating system.

The currently available version of WhatsApp requires a device running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (released in 2012) or a later version.

Earlier, it became known that the WhatsApp messenger team is developing a feature for using animated emojis in chats. Animated emojis are expected to improve the user experience, making messaging "more fun" and emotions "brighter."

As part of the recent update, a new mode, called Companion, has appeared in WhatsApp, which allows to use one user account on four devices at the same time.