It is among the most searched topics online in Italy. Most sought after and recurring, as a quick check on Google Trends shows (graph below): once every 4-5 months we worry a lot about what will happen to WhatsApp from November 1st, to then forget about it, and then return to worry. And precisely to check on the Internet.
Now, perhaps thanks to the two recent ones blocks that the popular messaging app has been a victim of, we are in the period of anxiety again. Also because the deadline of November 1 is approaching. Okay, but what happens to WhatsApp since that day on? Virtually nothing.
In Europe
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by Emanuele Capone
google trends: searches for “WhatsApp November 1st” in the last year
No support for 10-year-old Android smartphones
What happens, as WhatsApp had announced for some time, is that the app will no longer work on Android smartphones stopped at version 4.0 of the operating system (from 4.1, no problem). It is the one known as Ice Cream Sandwich and Google presented it on October 19, 2011, which is exactly 10 years.
Which is why we wrote that practically nothing will happen from November 1st and that’s why you shouldn’t heed the alarmist headlines that can be read online and on social networks: the phones involved are very old and, especially in our country, they are very few. Exactly as those stuck at Gingerbread who can no longer access the Google account.
For those who have one, our advice is the same as given by WhatsApp to its users: “We encourage you to switch to a supported device”. Also to keep up with the times, also from the point of view of IT security.
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