WhatsApp to drop support for Blackberry OS app

LONDON — In what is yet another nail in a firmly closed coffin, WhatsApp has announced that it will drop support for its BlackBerry app by the end of this year.

The messaging app used by more than 1 billion people said that it would end support for the once all-conquering smartphone, as well as older versions of Nokia, Android and Windows Phone software.

Despite their gradual fade into obscurity, BlackBerries still have a following among fans of tactile keyboards and reliable email services. Mr David Cameron admitted to still using one last year, and Kim Kardashian has been a vocal supporter of the keyboard-enabled handsets.

Although BlackBerry’s most recent device, the Priv, runs Android, it was still releasing devices running its own operating system last year, so the (presumably small) number of people who bought one will be without WhatsApp in 10 months’ time.

When the messaging app, now owned by Facebook, was started in 2009, it was developed for BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian, the dominant smartphone platforms at the time, and faced tough competition from BlackBerry’s own BBM. Android, iOS and Windows Phone had less than a quarter of the market.

But the Canadian manufacturer’s share of smartphone sales now stands at just 0.2 per cent, according to Gartner research, with smartphones running BlackBerry OS selling 1.7 million units. WhatsApp said it had made a “tough decision” to stop supporting BlackBerry by the end of 2016. “As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use,” it said.

Perhaps most offensively for BlackBerry fans, WhatsApp recommended that users upgrade “to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016”.

As well as BlackBerry, WhatsApp said it would end support for Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1.

“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” said WhatsApp.

WhatsApp has reached 1 billion users, making the messaging app one of the most commonly used Internet services in the world.

It made the announcement early last month, and comes just five months after it said it had reached 900 million users.

WhatsApp, bought by Facebook for US$19 billion (S$26.6 billion) two years ago, recently announced it would go free, dropping its US$0.99 annual subscription charge and charging businesses to communicate with users. Although it is wildly popular, WhatsApp still has some way to repay the money Facebook spent buying the company.

Messaging apps are expected to become “platforms” for making transactions and customer support in the future, and WhatsApp’s decision to drop its subscription fee is seen as a step towards this.

At its current growth, WhatsApp will have 2 billion users by 2020, who send 30 billion messages through the service every day. THE TELEGRAPH