(CMR) WhatsApp users will soon be bombarded with adverts on the popular messaging site, despite vows from the platform to never use them.
The decision to go back on the earlier promise comes as Facebook, who bought WhatsApp in 2014 for $18 billion, prepares to monetise the ‘Status’ feature.
Status on WhatsApp is similar to a story on Instagram or Facebook as an update which lasts for 24 hours.
‘Status ads’, according to WhatsApp vice president Chris Daniels, will soon be featured on the app.
WhatsApp will stop supporting these devices
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been dropping support for dated devices and operating systems (OS) from time to time and now it is ending support for iOS 7 and older versions, Android 2.3.7 and Nokia Series 40 (S40).
What this means is that users of Nokia Series 40 device will no longer be able to create new WhatsApp accounts and some features of the app could stop functioning on the device at any time.
“When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people’s use of mobile devices looked very different from today. The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 per cent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia.
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