WhatsApp is finally here for Nokia's 'banana phone', but there's a catch
It's been over a year since Nokia brought back its classic slider phone, the 8110, for the modern era. The original, launched in 1998, was a cult classic, and HMD Global celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a 4G 'Reloaded' version. But one killer app has been missing ever since... until now.
Fans of the retro Nokia feature phone have been calling out for WhatsApp support since day one. However, since the 8110 4G runs KaiOS, a Linux-based platform, and not Android, getting WhatsApp was not as simple as heading over to the Play Store and hitting download. Today, WhatsApp is finally available for the phone affectionately known as the 'banana phone', at least in India.
WhatsApp can now be downloaded from the JioStore and installed on devices running KaiOS 2.5.1 or later.
Ajey Mehta, Vice President and Country Head – India, HMD Global, said about the release: "We’re so happy that our fans in India will get WhatsApp on Nokia 8110 first anywhere in the world. The Nokia 8110 is a phone for ‘the originals’ and I hope along with adding to the style quotient, this new addition of WhatsApp to the already existing bouquet of apps on Nokia 8110 will make it the ideal choice for our fans."
The Nokia 8110 4G features a Snapdragon 205 SoC supported by 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. It has a 2.4-inch TFT screen, a 1,500 mAh battery and even a 2-megapixel camera. It already supports Google Maps, Google Search and YouTube.
So, fans of the Nokia banana phone can now, finally use WhatsApp in India. You'll still have to type out those messages on a T9 keyboard, however! There are also a couple of limitations, which are understandable given the hardware. You can still send photos and videos, but you can't make voice calls or send voice messages. You also won't be able to see the profile pictures of your contacts, and you won't be able to leave a witty status in place of the default: "Hey there! I'm WhatsApp".
What do you think of the news? Would you use WhatsApp on a feature phone like this?
just got the whatsapp upgrade yesterday... the battery life on this phone now totally suxs, have to charge it up every day like every other smartphone.. they to fix this asap or offer a larger after-market battery otherwise I am goining to have to go back to a regular smartphone... also for some reason there is no ability given for end users to remove the twitter app, cannot be uninstalled?
actually those who want to take a break to save time from smart phones hectic use and needs a phone mainly for calling purposes, this is suitable even though the price is on the higher side.
In my opinion Xiaomi's Android Go smartphone is a much better choice than Nokia's budget banana smartphone.