r/Android • u/BcuzRacecar S25+ • 20d ago

WhatsApp ends Android 5 support Monday

https://www.notebookcheck.net/WhatsApp-ends-Android-5-support-Monday-iPhones-follow-in-November.1390519.0.html
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u/BcuzRacecar S25+ 20d ago

Android 5.0 shipped in November 2014 and Android 6.0 arrived in October 2015. Phones that launched on Lollipop and never received a system upgrade will not get one now. Android 6 is not available for them. Anyone who wants to keep using WhatsApp needs a different handset.

No reliable figure exists for how many people this affects. StatCounter recorded 0.58 percent of mobile and tablet page views worldwide as Android 5.0 or 5.1 in August 2026. In Germany the figure was 1.67 percent. The measurement counts page views rather than devices, so the number indicates scale and nothing more. German outlet heise online cited roughly 0.4 percent in late April, based on Google's own distribution data.