List of Android and iPhone Models Blocked by WhatsApp in September 2026

Meta has officially confirmed that it will discontinue service support for a number of legacy Android and iPhone devices starting in September 2026. This strategic step is being taken by Meta to maintain encryption security standards and to support the integration of more advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) based features.

Based on gathered information, operating systems older than 10 years are deemed no longer capable of supporting the computational load required for advanced privacy features. Furthermore, older devices are more vulnerable to cyber threats as they no longer receive official security updates from manufacturers.

Meta has set a deadline of 8 September 2026 for Android users. After this date, devices still running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or Android 5.1 will no longer be able to access the WhatsApp application. Several popular models confirmed to be affected include those running these older versions. Users are required to update to at least Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) to continue communicating via the platform.

For Apple users, WhatsApp has emphasised that devices running below iOS 15.1 will gradually lose support. This affects several iconic models that have reached the end of their software update cycles. The list of iPhones that will no longer be able to use WhatsApp includes various models running older iOS versions.

To check your OS version:

• Android: Go to Settings > About Phone > Software Information.

• iPhone: Go to Settings > General > About > iOS Version.

To avoid sudden loss of communication access, users are advised to take necessary steps to upgrade their devices. This policy aligns with technology industry trends that are moving away from legacy systems to ensure more guaranteed user data security in the future.