Unable to send or receive media through WhatsApp since 22nd July 2021 on samsung phone

[glyderman]

Re: Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 using Android 4.4.4 not being able to send or receive

media using WhatsApp

Hi,

To run through what I have tried to solve the problem of media not being sent or received by Whatsapp since 22nd July.
Uninstalled and Reinstalled Whatsapp - no success
Blocked wifi and used Mobile data network - no success
Contacted my phone provider Three and ran through tests on phone with them - no success
Contacted WhatsApp help and tried their suggestions - no success
Reset phone and reinstalled WhatsApp - no success
Flashed original stock image from Samsung with Android 4.4.4 then only installed WhatsApp nothing else - no success
Tried a different ISP outside - no success

On sending from another phone to my Mega 2 phone the 2 ticks on the send phone would show blue even though on the receiving Mega2 phone it would have a blurred image with over writing saying "Unable to download please try again later"

After all this troubleshooting I am led to believe the problem is with WhatsApp or the servers it uses.

Then, while I was trying it once again on Monday testing between the Samsung Mega2 phone and my other phone it suddenly sent an image through. I realised that I had pressed the retry 5 times before it finally sent. It was then working
for an hour or so before it stopped again.

When it had stopped working I tried again to send and yes, if i kept pressing the retry button it would always send on the 5th try and also then be able to receive media.

It would continue to be able to send and receive through WhatsApp for a limited time perhaps an hour or two. It seems to stop after a random time.

I have now tried this approach several times when it has stopped sending media and every time, if I then press the retry button 5 times it starts to send again for a short time.

This again makes me believe the problem is with WhatsApp or their servers as there is nothing but the stock image on my phone and WhatsApp.

Can anyone help me with this problem. Although my other phone, a Samsung Note 7 Edge, is unaffected, I do not believe I can be the only one having this problem since the 22nd July.

Thank you,

Glyderman

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome to AC!

[I moved this from site and feedback to Apps forum]

 

[mustang7757]

I wouldn't be surprised if WhatsApp or any other apps will give issues running on a very very old android system and only going get worse being on that .

 

[J Dubbs]

I was running KitKat (Android 4) on an old tablet, and finally had to stop using it because most apps I installed quit working.

 

[glyderman]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I realise that my OS is now old. I just feel annoyed that everyone denies responsibility for the app stopping working correctly.
I have since contacted WhatsApp again and this time they replied saying "We are aware of this issue and it will be fixed in the next update".

I cannot be the only person in the world still using Android 4.4.4 on a phone that cost me £300 new only 6 years ago. The company that should take responsibily is Samsung as I have only had one update to its OS and that was 6 months after I purchased it. Android 4.4 up to 4.4.4. I believe that countries that the phones are marketed in should legislate to make phone providers maintain their OS for at least 6 years. If we want to prevent waste in this world then something that cost so much shouldn't be made useless due to companies wanting to make people buy new just to make more profits for them. For example, in this country car manufacturers have to provide spare parts for the first 10 years of a cars life, by legislation. The same case could be made for all the millions of phones that cost a fortune in money and in materials. Ok, had my rant. I am of a generation that does not believe in waste and believes in maintaining things for as long as possible not just change because a new model is out.
THis thread can now be closed.

 

[mustang7757]

I understand your frustrations, but no one runs windows XP anymore that's what 4.4 is . With Android 12 almost here 4.4 is 8 generation behind and at that time of your device 1 or 2 OS updates were available. You just can't expect things to be updated for long periods of time it cost time,money etc .. they move on to the next technology , and why custom ROM community are available if people keep their devices over 4 years if it's popular device. VCR /8 tracks /windows XP when new cost lot of money but not many people use them anymore as they are outdated. 4.4 is simply outdated Android version .