WhatsApp likely gets a two-week grace period on BlackBerry 10

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WhatsApp is now dead on select platforms such as BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 OS and Windows Phone 8.0 and older. We say so as the end of life date for these platforms was December 31, 2017. However, it looks like the users of BlackBerry 10 have a grace period.

As per a report by CrackBerry, suggests that BlackBerry 10 users will get a grace period of two weeks past the end of life date. During this two weeks period, WhatsApp for BlackBerry 10 will go on a deprecation mode. This means that the app will remain functional but will face some behavioral changes. The users will no longer be able to re-register their account with the app. So they delete and reinstall (either on the same phone or on a different phone), the app will no longer verify their phone number and complete the verification process.

Once the grace period of two weeks is over, WhatsApp will go to the expired mode. In the expired mode, the app will stop functioning as a usable WhatsApp client and will no longer connect to the servers. Even after the expiry, the BlackBerry 10 app will let users access the existing messages and content on the device.

For now, it remains to be known if the other platforms - Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS have also received a similar grace period. WhatsApp announced that they want to focus their efforts on the platforms those are used by a majority of people and not on the ones with a reducing user base. Apparently, they have decided to stop supporting the dated operating systems.

According to WhatsApp, the reason to end the support for these three platforms is due to the dwindling user base while the Android and iOS users are increasing. Initially, the end of life for BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone 8.0 platforms was said to be December 31, 2017. The support for Nokia Symbian S60 ended on June 30, 2017 and Nokia S40 support will end on December 31, 2018. The dated Android versions - Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread and older will not receive support from WhatsApp after February 1, 2020.