Overview
- WhatsApp stopped supporting devices running Android 5.0 and 5.1 on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, which means the app cannot be started or used on those phones unless the operating system is upgraded.
- The company warned affected users inside the app and advised them to back up chats to Google Drive or create local backups before the cutoff so messages can be restored on a new device.
- Statcounter measured Android 5.0 at about 2.02 percent global share in May 2026, a figure that translates roughly to 80–90 million devices that could be affected worldwide.
- The impact will be uneven with higher disruption likely in countries where older phones remain common, such as India, Brazil, Pakistan and parts of Southeast Asia, while markets with newer device fleets will see limited effect.
- WhatsApp says the change is technical: older Android builds no longer receive security updates and limit the app’s ability to run modern encryption and new features, and the company is continuing work on new capabilities such as browser-based call joining that remain in development.