Social messaging service WhatsApp faced a major outage in several parts of the world on Sunday evening, including India. WhatsApp users took to Twitter to report they were unable to share photos, videos, GIFs, and stickers. However, the services resumed within a few hours.
Users also complained on websites such as downdetector.com and outage.report. Outage.report said it had received 2,709 reports from India, the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Malaysia, and 106 other countries. At the time this article was being written, the website had received 107 reports of WhatsApp problems in 20 minutes.
The majority of these reports (68%) were complaints about messages not getting sent. Eleven percent of users reported that “everything is down”. Ten percent said their mobile app had either crashed or was not working. As many as 8% complained they were unable to read messages, and 2% cited other problems.
Downdetector.com said it had received more than 4,000 reports of WhatsApp problems since 4 pm. According to the website, 53% of the complaints were about sending or receiving messages, 45% about connections, and 2% about the “last seen” status on the app.
The problems seemed to have begun around 4 pm Indian Standard Time. However, the peak phase seems to have ended as fewer users are reporting problems. The top Twitter trend in India is #whatsappdown as users described the problems they experienced with the app.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!