From time to time, WhatsApp removes support for its applications on older versions of operating systems. The last time this happened was in December 2020. Now, the Facebook Messenger team has announced the upcoming end of support for a number of legacy operating systems.
According to the official WhatsApp FAQ page, starting November 1 this year, the world's most used instant messaging service will no longer work on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, iOS 9 and KaiOS 2.5.0.
After that, you will need Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, iOS 10 or KaiOS 2.5.1 to use WhatsApp. In addition, the messenger team states that regardless of the iOS version, the app will not work on jailbroken iPhones.
Since we are talking about the end of support for quite old versions of mobile platforms, the vast majority of users will not notice the changes.
WhatsApp will allow you to hide the time of visiting the messenger from individual users
Most modern messengers allow you to show in contacts when the user last opened the corresponding program. Many people turn this feature off, but it's usually not possible to choose who can see presence and who can't. WhatsApp developers have come up with a convenient alternative solution.
According to the portal WABetaInfo, known for accurate leaks about the latest beta versions of WhatsApp, the messenger's new tools will allow you to determine who exactly can see certain parts of the profile. For example, "Went online", "Profile photo" and "View contact" can now be seen either by everyone or by no one, unlike some messengers there are no more detailed settings. Currently, the WhatsApp team is testing the ability to exclude some contacts from those who can see the status and other data.
This option, for example, will allow you to hide "Was online" for some pesky contacts, without turning off viewing for everyone else. The same goes for other additional information, including the ability to view your profile picture. It is worth noting that the function is two-way - if the user has disabled viewing for someone, then he himself will not be able to read the contact data.
So far, information has appeared about the preparation of the function for iOS, but in the future it will be available for all smartphones compatible with WhatsApp. Such flexibility can be very important in today's world, when stalkers of all kinds actively use data from social networks and instant messengers to track the activities of victims.
It is known that in the application stores there is even a group of detective programs that systematically monitor the time spent on the network by specific users and compare this information with the subsequent presence of others.
