WhatsApp users warned they'll be BANNED for trying to get around major shutdown on millions of devices this week
The Meta -owned platform put out an update this week which caused WhatsApp to stop working permanently.
1
There are a number of replica WhatsApp apps that allow people to contact friends but they're strictly forbidden by the tech giant.
GBWhatsApp and WhatsApp Plus are just some of the popular alternatives.
But anyone caught using them faces their account being banned.
So users affected by recent changes shouldn't be tempted to try them out.
For an iPhone, that would require "jailbreaking" the device which isn't for the fainthearted and never advised.
WhatsApp announced that it will only support iPhones running iOS 15.1 or later from Monday (May 5).
This includes:
iPhone 5s
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
WhatsApp says it doesn't allow unofficial apps because they "can't validate their security practices".
"If you use these apps your privacy and security are at risk," the company states on its website.
WhatsApp reveals exacty how to block one of your contacts
"Unofficial apps carry malware that can steal your data, and damage your phone.
"There's no guarantee your messages or your data, like your location or the files you share, will be private and secure.
"Your account might also be temporarily or permanently banned."
The safest option is to continue accessing WhatsApp is to upgrade to a new smartphone.
WHAT TO DO IF I'M AFFECTED
Sadly, if you want to continue using WhatsApp legitimately and safely the best option is to upgrade your phone.
Of course, the trusty SMS text message will still work, as well as Apple's own iMessage, so you could switch but you won't have key features like groups anymore as you do on WhatsApp.
If you do opt for an upgrade, it doesn't have to be the most expensive option around.
Even Apple has a new cheaper version of the iPhone.
The latest being the iPhone 16e which starts at £599 / $599.
And there are plenty of good Android options around too if you're tempted to switch, such as the Google Pixel 9a and Samsung Galaxy A56.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump pauses export controls to bolster China trade deal, FT says
July 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. has paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support President Donald Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping this year, the Financial Times said on Monday. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies. Tech giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab said this month it would resume sales of its H20 graphics processing units (GPU) to China, reversing an export curb the Trump administration imposed in April to keep advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The planned resumption was part of U.S. negotiations on rare earths and magnets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. The paper said 20 security experts and former officials, including former deputy US national security adviser Matt Pottinger, will write on Monday to Lutnick to voice concern, however. "This move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the United States' economic and military edge in artificial intelligence," they write in the letter, it added.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Star Trek legend William Shatner discovers powerful new way to live forever
A groundbreaking program has now made it possible to preserve your life stories and wisdom, allowing you to speak to loved ones decades into the future. StoryFile, an innovative AI company, has developed lifelike, interactive 3D avatars that allow people to 'live on' after death, sharing memories and answering questions in the same natural and conversational manner of a real person. Individuals like philanthropist Michael Staenberg, 71, and Star Trek star William Shatner, 94, have used StoryFile to immortalize both their experiences and personalities. Staenberg, a property developer and philanthropist who has given away more than $850 million, said: 'I hope to pass my knowledge on, and the good I've created.' The technology captures video interviews, transforming them into hologram-style avatars that use generative AI, similar to ChatGPT, to respond dynamically to questions. StoryFile's avatars have been employed in museums since 2021 to preserve the voices of historical figures like WWII veterans and Holocaust survivors, and by terminally ill individuals to connect with family after death. Until now, the company has offered a premium service costing tens of thousands of dollars, but a new, affordable app launching this summer will allow everyday people to record their own AI avatars for less than the cost of a monthly cellphone plan. Staenberg added that he'd like to imagine other business people and family members still having a chance to interact with him 30 years from now. 'It's important to get my version so the details aren't forgotten. I've had quite a crazy life, so I'd have a lot of stories that I don't want people to forget,' Staenberg said. More than 2,000 users have used the previous version. However, the new Storyfile app will allow users to interview themselves on video and create an intelligent avatar they can keep adding chapters to as they answer more questions about their lives. Previously, the Storyfile avatars could understand the intent of people talking to them, but could only respond with pre-recorded video answers. Storyfile's newer AI avatars will be able to generate an answer based on the persona from the recorded interviews, and it will be able to approximate an answer to any question. The company has gotten a huge number of daily queries from people who have been diagnosed with terminal illness and who hope to preserve their legacy in an avatar. Storyfile CEO Alex Quinn said: 'Every day we'll get very sad and heart-wrenching emails, saying things like "My son was just diagnosed with terminal cancer."' Others have expressed fear over their parents aging, asking for a way to keep their memories intact for the future. Quinn added that Storyfile would never be able to accommodate all those requests if they had to send their video production team to all of those customers. The solution was to make a 'DIY' version, where people record their own answers to an AI 'interviewer' using the app - answering questions on everything from their career to their family to their tastes in food. The app will come with 'permanent cold storage' so that avatars remain safe once recorded, and users can keep adding new video and new information. Quinn admitted that because Storyfile avatars use generative AI there is a possibility it could initially say 'crazy' stuff, but noted that the replica of the person will become more and more realistic the more users speak to the program. 'It's almost like an AI FaceTime where you're interviewed by an AI interviewer, and it's able to probe and go deep on certain topics,' the CEO said. 'If you've got a couple days, or you've got free time, and you want to understand your question every now and then, you're just going to keep on adding to your digital memories, and it's going to get more and more sophisticated, more and more personalized,' he continued. Tech pioneers such as inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil have already used AI to recreate lost relatives. Kurzweil created a 'dad bot' based on information about his father Fred in 2016. The 'Fredbot' could converse with Kurzweil, revealing that what his father loved about topics like gardening. It even remembered his father's belief that the meaning of life was love. 'I actually had a conversation with him, which felt a lot like talking to him,' Kurzweil told Rolling Stone Magazine in 2023. He believed that some form of his dad bot AI would be released to the public one day, enabling everyone to stay in touch with their dead relatives from beyond the grave. 'We'll be able to actually create something like a large language model that really represents somebody else by having enough information,' he predicted.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The ugly monoliths quietly desecrating America's most sacred sites… and driving locals to the brink
They were once hallowed grounds where cannon smoke filled the skies and musket balls tore through blue and gray uniforms - sites of blood, brotherhood and the brutal birth of a nation. Today, America's most sacred battlefield sites face a different kind of invasion - one of cold, hulking mega-structures filled not with soldiers, but with servers.
