WhatsApp will soon ditch support for some iPhone models. Here's when it's happening and if you have to upgrade your phone.

An optional security feature on iPhones called Lockdown Mode helps protect Apple devices against some of the world’s most sophisticated hackers. Users of Lockdown Mode include human-rights activists, journalists and others.But what about everybody else? Do they need this kind of top-level cyber protection, too?Released in 2022 as part of Apple’s iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura, Lockdown Mode disables or restricts such commonly used tools and activities as photo sharing, payment applications and use of unsecured local networks—all features that attackers often exploit to install spyware through phishing attempts and malicious downloads.Unsolicited FaceTime calls and messages from unknown contacts are blocked. Standard features of modern messaging, like preview links and automatic media downloads, also are disabled. Links to images or files appear as plain text URLs without previews or direct opening options. Popular features like Apple Pay become limited, too. When someone sends money through Apple Cash, recipients see only a generic notification rather than specific payment details. Payment integrations also become more limited in third-party apps.Users can still approve access to trusted websites and applications for more flexibility. But in return for beefed up security, Lockdown Mode essentially transforms iPhones, iPads and Macs into stripped-down versions of themselves.No Android equivalentUsers of Google’s Android operating system lack a direct equivalent to Lockdown Mode, says Trey Herr, senior director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative of the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank focused on international affairs. Rather than trying to secure an Android device’s entire features and operation, like Lockdown Mode does, Google has its users sign in with a physical security key and sends them alerts if there are changes in sensitive settings.Both Apple and Google, which is a unit of Alphabet, declined to comment directly about their security efforts. But Herr suggests that one reason for the difference in approaches is because Android runs on devices from many manufacturers using different kinds of hardware, making it more of a challenge to design one overarching additional-security tool.Amnesty International recommends Lockdown Mode as crucial protection for anyone using an Apple device “who is defending human rights and who thinks they are at risk in some fashion,” says Molly Rose Freeman Cyr, the training and community engagement lead at Amnesty International’s Security Lab, which conducts investigations into cyber threats against activists and journalists.While the lab can’t track specific numbers of prevented attacks, Cyr says she and her colleagues use Lockdown Mode and find it has minimal negative impact on their devices’ general functionality.“Not a lot changes with the user interface,” she says. “There are limited disruptions,” like some websites not appearing as they normally would and PDFs not displaying well or at all, she says.It’s a feelingThe risks of smartphone surveillance aren’t limited to high-profile targets. Someone whose personal information is stolen through a breach, for example, can be targeted by criminals hoping to access financial accounts or cryptocurrencies. Cybersecurity experts say warning signs of such a threat might include receiving persistent phishing emails trying to steal banking credentials, or suspicious messages across multiple platforms attempting to trick them into downloading malicious files.“If you’re worried that you’re being targeted for some reason, you could turn Lockdown Mode on for a period where you decide to look into a little deeper and try to understand what could be happening,” says Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at the National Cybersecurity Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes cybersecurity awareness and education.But every user, whether worried about common threats like phishing or more-targeted attacks, needs to weigh their individual risks against the inconveniences. “These are personal decisions of risk versus functionality,” says Bruce Schneier, who teaches cybersecurity policy at Harvard Kennedy School. “Security is a feeling and a reality. It depends what kind of risk profile they have.”Jackie Snow is a writer in Los Angeles. She can be reached at [email protected].