Microsoft ended its mainstream technical support for Windows Phone 8.1 two years ago. Last year Microsoft announced that the old Windows Phone 8.1 phone will stop receiving app updates after July 1, 2019.

In October 2018, Microsoft announced that it would stop accepting new applications submitted by developers on October 31.From now on, you will not be able to find application updates for Windows Phone 8 or 8.1 in the App Store.

Developers can still update their Windows Phone 8.x apps, but app updates will only appear on Windows 10 Mobile phones. For all versions of Microsoft phones, large applications such as WhatsApp will be deprecated by the end of 2019, while Facebook for Windows 10 Mobile has stopped supporting.

“Microsoft will stop releasing application updates to Windows Phone 8.x or earlier devices,” Microsoft said in a 2018 statement. “You can still post updates for all applications (including those that use Windows Phone 8.x or earlier). However, these updates are only available for Windows 10 devices,” Microsoft added.

According to the 2017 AdDuplex data, 70% of Windows Phones are running Windows Phone 8.1, while others are running Windows 10 Mobile or earlier.

Microsoft’s move to stop app updates to older Windows Phone devices will affect most Windows Phone users.