WhatsApp for Nokia Asha Currently Free to Download

Although there are several options to use when trying to communicate with family or friends, these days the choices boil down to SMS or WhatsApp. The latter, of course, seems the more preferable of the two as it’s more cost-effective. As long as there’s an internet connection, users can communicate with loved ones living locally or even abroad.

The Asha series of phones were produced by Nokia as a budget offering. Microsoft purchased the mobile device business of Nokia and shortly after announced that it was ending the Asha line to focus on creating Lumia Windows Phones and other Nokia phone products. The good news is that WhatsApp hasn’t withdrawn support of their popular messaging application from the phone.

Supported Nokia Asha devices

WhatsApp was initially supported on a Nokia S40 but the company announced they would continue support for the device until June 30, 2017. While that is good news, it still points to the inevitable fact: support will definitely be terminated soon.

For example, people in India have noticed that they have problems accessing WhatsApp under specific telcos. If you’re one of those people, there is a fix for it. In the phone’s settings, hit Configuration, Preferred Access Point and pick the provider you’re with. After that, go back to Settings and Configuration and hit Default config. settings. This will erase the configuration settings. You’ll need to restart the device.

If problems persist, it could be one of the channels WhatsApp is using. The wireless access point settings may be blocked by the cell phone provider. If this happens to be the case, users need to reach out to their mobile providers.

Then again, WhatsApp still supports a couple other Nokia devices like the Asha. Here’s a list of the Asha line of devices supported by WhatsApp:

• 201
• 205 Chat Edition
• 210
• 230 Single SIM
• 230 Dual SIM
• 300
• 302
• 303
• 305
• 306
• 308
• 309
• 310
• 311
• 500
• 501
• 502
• 503

Installation of WhatsApp on Nokia Asha phones

Here’s how to download and install WhatsApp on Nokia Asha phones:

1. Make sure that your device is supported. Check the list above to see if your Asha device is supported. If so, you can proceed with the next steps.
2. Go to your phone’s Main Screen. Open up the Internet Browser of your device.
3. Type in the link where you can download WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/s40/. Although the link points to a download for the Nokia S40, your Asha phone is compatible so this will work fine.
4. Choose Download Now. After that, just follow the prompts you see on screen.

Just like many other apps, WhatsApp is frequently updated to address security issues and provide improvements. That said, you must always make sure to get the latest version for your Asha device.