User complaints are growing over updates to the national messenger "KakaoTalk." On older smartphones, installing and updating to the latest version has become more difficult, and with the new "update profile" feature added to the friends tab, users say they are seeing more unwanted content. Kakao says raising the minimum supported version is a measure for security and stability, and the friends tab changes are a regular update to improve convenience.
◇ Older phone users say "KakaoTalk is effectively blocked"
According to the industry on the 16th, Kakao has raised the minimum supported version for KakaoTalk mobile starting on the 13th. As a result, installing and updating to the latest version of KakaoTalk is restricted on operating systems below Android 9 and iOS 15. Among some users with older devices, there are reactions that KakaoTalk is effectively "blocked."
The industry expects about 1 million smartphones to be affected by this move. The estimate applies weighting to KakaoTalk's monthly active users (MAU) of 48.95 million (as of last December), domestic mobile operating system market share, and the share of older versions. It reflects that domestic mobile operating system (OS) share is roughly 70% Android and 30% iOS, with 2.39% below Android 9 and 1.65% below iOS 15.
The problem is how users feel it. KakaoTalk has become a life platform that goes beyond simple private conversations to include verification, notices, and various everyday alerts. Because of this, changes in support standards are seen not as a simple app update issue but as directly leading to everyday inconvenience. Many also say the inconvenience can feel greater for users who continue using older smartphones.
In particular, considering that older smartphone users are relatively concentrated among older adults or vulnerable groups, this move could also lead to digital accessibility issues. For users who cannot easily replace devices, KakaoTalk use is blocked, forcing them to rely on other means such as text messages for various public notices. However, there are significant concerns that standard texts are relatively vulnerable to security threats such as smishing.
Kakao's explanation is clear. In older operating system environments, it is difficult to apply the latest security standards, and there are limits to error response and maintaining service quality. The company says raising the minimum supported version is a decision made for service stability and safety, and that ending support for older versions is a common operating practice in the industry.
◇ Why did the friends tab become "socialized"? The clash between "improved convenience" and "increased fatigue"
Backlash over the friends tab is also fueling the controversy. What users recently take issue with is not a limited test feature but the "update profile" included in a regular update. In the friends tab, users can check friends' profile photo changes, status messages, and new items like "Pung" in a single sequence. The company says the intent is to make it easier to see what friends have been up to.
But user reactions are mixed. While previously users tended to tap a specific friend's profile directly to check, many now feel the structure has changed so that more people's updates are actively surfaced in the friends tab. Some say they go in to check the friends list but end up seeing unwanted content in a row, and complain that the messenger is increasingly turning into social media (SNS).
Kakao did add a feature to hide unwanted posts, but some users say they are left with more fatigue than convenience. With ads appearing as well, there are also criticisms that the structure now leads users who entered to check the friends list to consume short video-style content and profile-type posts.
Ultimately, this controversy is close to a case where user inconvenience clashes with a platform operator's management judgment. From the user's perspective, a messenger they have used for a long time may feel heavier and more complex. From Kakao's perspective, to maintain security levels and service stability, it has no choice but to reduce support for older environments, and it argues that the friends tab also needs to be enhanced in line with new communication flows.
Of course, KakaoTalk is a private service. Raising the minimum supported version or revamping the friends tab is fundamentally a matter of the company's product strategy and operational judgment. But because the platform now has such broad reach and deep integration into daily life, how carefully it reduces perceived inconvenience will influence trust as much as the direction of change. If the rationale of security and evolution results in user fatigue and a sense of distance, the backlash will only grow.
An Jung-sang, adjunct professor at Chung-Ang University's Graduate School of Communication, said, "Even if security needs to be strengthened, for a service like KakaoTalk that is used virtually as a public good, there should have been a soft-landing plan to minimize user confusion through sufficient consultation between the app operator and the OS operator, and to guarantee ample grace periods for users of older devices," adding, "A balance must be found so that the rationale of stronger security and service evolution does not lead to user fatigue and reduced accessibility."