Using modified or older versions might violate WhatsApp's terms of service, potentially leading to account suspension.
These apps still officially support Android 4.4: whatsapp 4.4 4 apk download
Since you aren’t using Google Play Store: Using modified or older versions might violate WhatsApp's
: As WhatsApp evolves with features like end-to-end encryption, disappearing messages, and high-quality video calling, the security and performance requirements became too high for the aging KitKat architecture to handle. and high-quality video calling