WhatsApp is about to stop working for millions what are the best alternatives? – The Independent

WhatsAppwill stop working on dozens ofolder phone models from 1 February, meaning millions of people will no longer have access to the worlds most popular messaging app.

The Facebook-owned app claims the mass cull is necessary in order to protect the security of its users, as it is no longer actively developing features and updates for certain older handsets.

Affected devices include any iPhonesrunning iOS 8 or earlier, as well as Android phones running versions older than 4.03 also referred to as Ice Cream Sandwich. (The Independenthas put together a list of every device affected.)

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Any WhatsAppusers with Windows phones have already lost access, after a similar purge at the end of 2019.

While some users may choose to upgrade toa new smartphone to avoid the purge, this may not be an option for everyone. For those who are unwilling or unable to ditch their old phones, weve put together a list of the best alternatives.

Arguably the most like-for-like messaging app to WhatsApp is Telegram, which supports many of the same features and even some extras.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has consistently criticised WhatsAppfor perceived security and privacy issues, most recently in a blog post on Thursday.

WhatsApp boasts hundreds of millions more users than Telegram but a series of scandals are pushing people towards the rival messaging app (Composite)

The Russian entrepreneur described WhatsApp as "dangerous", building on previous claims that it would never be secure.

His warning that "there hasn't been a single day in WhatsApp's 10 year journey when the service was secure" appeared to be confirmed earlier this month when it was revealed Jeff Bezos was hacked through a security flaw in the app.

With more than 200 million users, Telegram is therefore already a popular alternative for more privacy-focused users.

With around 260 million users, Viber is even more popular than Telegram. Its users tend to be more concentrated to certain regions, however, meaning it might be difficult to find friends using it unless you are from there.

Its core user base is in eastern Europe, north Africa and the Middle East, though there is a scattering of users elsewhere in the world.

You can unsend a message by tapping and holding it, hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone. The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago.

WhatsApps blue ticks show when sent messages have been read, but you can disable them buy going to Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts. However, bear in mind that, by doing so, youll lose the ability to see when your own sent messages have been read. Another, more fiddly way of reading your messages without triggering the blue ticks, is enabling Aeroplane Mode before opening your messages - just remember to close the app before switching Aeroplane Mode off again.

Prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your last seen time will also stop you from seeing anybody elses.

You can control how much data you munch through on WhatsApp by limiting the types of media you automatically download on a mobile connection. Go to Settings > Data Usage and choose the best option for you.

If youre expecting an important WhatsApp message from someone, set a custom notification for them by opening the chat, tapping their name at the top and hitting Custom Notifications.

To jazz up any of your messages, simply highlight it by tapping and holding it, hit the More Options key on the pop-up menu and tap the formatting option you want - bold, italic, strikethrough or monospace.

You can get Siri or Google Assistant to type your WhatsApp messages out for you by saying either Hey Siri or Okay Google, followed by the name of the person you want to message and the actual contents of the message.

When youve read a message but cant reply to it straight away, you can set a visual reminder by marking it as unread. On Android, long-press the conversation, and on iOS, swipe from left to right on a chat.

You almost certainly wont do this on a regular basis, but its a handy option to have. You can export entire conversations - complete with emoji and media attachments - by hitting More inside a chat a selecting Email Chat.

You can send the same message to lots of your contacts without lumping them all into one group, much like the BCC option on email, by hitting the New Broadcast option on the apps main menu.

You pin up to three contacts and groups to the top of your WhatsApp conversation list by tapping and holding a chat, then hitting the pin icon.

You can easily mark key messages with a star, allowing you to find them easily when you need to. Just tap and hold a message and hit the star icon to save it, and return to it later by selecting Starred Messages in WhatsApps main menu.

You can unsend a message by tapping and holding it, hitting the Delete symbol and selecting Delete for Everyone. The feature works for all types of messages, but only if they were sent less than seven minutes ago.

WhatsApps blue ticks show when sent messages have been read, but you can disable them buy going to Settings > Account > Privacy > Read Receipts. However, bear in mind that, by doing so, youll lose the ability to see when your own sent messages have been read. Another, more fiddly way of reading your messages without triggering the blue ticks, is enabling Aeroplane Mode before opening your messages - just remember to close the app before switching Aeroplane Mode off again.

Prevent your friends from finding out when you were last online by hiding your last seen time. Go to Settings > Account > Privacy > Last Seen. As is the case with disabling read receipts, hiding your last seen time will also stop you from seeing anybody elses.

You can control how much data you munch through on WhatsApp by limiting the types of media you automatically download on a mobile connection. Go to Settings > Data Usage and choose the best option for you.

If youre expecting an important WhatsApp message from someone, set a custom notification for them by opening the chat, tapping their name at the top and hitting Custom Notifications.

To jazz up any of your messages, simply highlight it by tapping and holding it, hit the More Options key on the pop-up menu and tap the formatting option you want - bold, italic, strikethrough or monospace.

You can get Siri or Google Assistant to type your WhatsApp messages out for you by saying either Hey Siri or Okay Google, followed by the name of the person you want to message and the actual contents of the message.

When youve read a message but cant reply to it straight away, you can set a visual reminder by marking it as unread. On Android, long-press the conversation, and on iOS, swipe from left to right on a chat.

You almost certainly wont do this on a regular basis, but its a handy option to have. You can export entire conversations - complete with emoji and media attachments - by hitting More inside a chat a selecting Email Chat.

You can send the same message to lots of your contacts without lumping them all into one group, much like the BCC option on email, by hitting the New Broadcast option on the apps main menu.

You pin up to three contacts and groups to the top of your WhatsApp conversation list by tapping and holding a chat, then hitting the pin icon.

You can easily mark key messages with a star, allowing you to find them easily when you need to. Just tap and hold a message and hit the star icon to save it, and return to it later by selecting Starred Messages in WhatsApps main menu.

It comes with group chat, instant voice and video messaging, as well as support for audio and video calls.

Similar to both Telegram and WhatsApp, all messages on Viber are end-to-end encrypted, while it also allows users to send timed self-destruct messages.

Endorsed by the world's most famouswhistleblowerEdward Snowden, Signal is the go-to app for people who's number one priority for a messaging service is privacy.

Unlike Telegram, it uses open-source encryption that allows security developers to test it for flaws and find bugs.

Edward Snowden has consistently praised the privacy benefits of the Signal messaging app (Rosdiana Ciaravolo/Getty Images)

It is free and simple to use, however it does not support some of the more popular features of other messaging apps.

Available on all major platforms, it's a great alternative for anyone happy to go without animated emojis.

WeChat is the most popular app you may never have heard of, with nearly a billion people using it every day. Almost all of these users, however, are in China.

The versatile app has achieved such dominance in its native country by covers messaging, social media and mobile payments.

The multi-purpose app is also used by companies as a communication platform, while organisations also use official accounts as a platform to register for servicers.

Its popularity has led to fears that it is used for state surveillance activities, while also being heavily censored.

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WhatsApp is about to stop working for millions what are the best alternatives? - The Independent