Are you still using an old iPhone? In the coming months, WhatsApp could force you to upgrade or risk losing your ability to use its instant messaging (IM) platform.

Meta-owned WhatsApp is poised to drop support for iOS 10 and iOS 11 in the near future. So, if you’re using an iPhone running these older versions of iOS, you could be forced to buy a new one. The support for the aforementioned iOS builds ends on October 24. So, you need not hurry. You have a few months to save up some money and buy a new iPhone so that you can keep using WhatsApp.

Most of the users affected by this change would be using the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5C. iOS 10 was the last major iOS update these phones received. However, the iPhone 5S users are in the clear this time since they have the option of updating to iOS 12. Anyone at risk of losing access to WhatsApp will be shown a warning that reads:

“WhatsApp will stop supporting this version of iOS after 24 Oct 2022. Please go to Settings > General, then top Software Update to get the latest iOS version.”

WhatsApp’s support page further corroborates the change. It has been updated to suggest that you install the app only on iPhones running iOS 12 or newer versions. However, WhatsApp has not reasoned why it is dropping support for older iOS builds. We believe it is likely due to compatibility issues and to ensure its platform remains secure. Meanwhile, if you are eager to continue using your older iPhone, you could ditch WhatsApp for Telegram. It still supports versions as old as iOS 9 and is more feature rich.