Being the most used messaging app, Whatsapp makes business and personal communication easy and universal around the globe. It is important that the app is available to as many people as possible because of its global reach. It is also necessary to keep in mind that different people use different operating systems on their devices.
Given that not everyone has access to Android 14, many are still stuck with older versions. The most well-known version Android 4.4, has a user demography of 0.5%. The version was a huge success back in 2013. It has remained a crowd favorite, and it has been hard for many fans to let go.
The percentage has been going down steadily over the years, especially after Jelly Bean. It completely lost the support of Google in 2021, which made it obvious that Kit Kat would be up next.
According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has recently released a new version that drops support for Android KitKat. This is the only compatibility change that the report mentions at the moment.
While it is unlikely that there are many people still using Android 4.4 and relying on WhatsApp regularly, this decision could help reduce maintenance overhead and improve the product for users of current operating systems.
Ending support for KitKat isn’t new in the tech world. Dropbox ended its support for the Android 4.4 version over three years ago, and Android Messages, (now known as Messages by Google), also dropped its support for this old version in 2018. While we may cherish the fond memories of Android 4.4, technology moves fast, and sometimes, it’s better to move on.
Recently, WhatsApp has been releasing a lot of updates for its Android version. One of the most significant updates is the multi-account switching feature, which allows users to use more than one WhatsApp account on one installation of the app instead of having multiple copies on their device. Besides, they are testing voice messages, stickers, and extra security features, such as hiding locked chats. As the most used messaging service, the more updates, the better.
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