WhatsApp will end support for several mobile platforms, including BlackBerry 10, because “they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future”.

Android 2.1 and 2.2, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60 and Windows Phone 7.1 are also on the list.

While generally these are older platforms, BlackBerry 10 stands out on the list because BlackBerry is still positioning it as current – despite question marks over its future.

And the older Android and Nokia platforms also have installed user bases in emerging markets, as do earlier BlackBerry versions, although these are now relatively small.

“This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch,” the company said in a blog post.

“If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp,” it continued.

The Facebook-owned messaging app maker also said it plans to put “an even greater emphasis” on security features and ways to stay in touch in the future, as it celebrates its seventh birthday.

“When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people’s use of mobile devices looked very different from today. The App Store was only a few months old. About 70 per cent of smartphones sold had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft – which account for 99.5 percent of sales today – were on less than 25 percent of mobile devices sold at the time,” it said.

Earlier this month, WhatsApp hit one billion ‘monthly active users’, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, just five months after reaching the 900 million mark.

In its Q4 results last week, Facebook said it had doubled its investment in “next generation” products like WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger in 2015.

Meanwhile WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, Jan Koum, has plans to focus on “commercial participation” for monetisation, which involves improving communication between consumers and businesses.