WhatsApp down: App starts working again for some after global outage

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Web Desk
People pose with smartphones in front of displayed WhatsApp logo, September 14, 2017. REUTERS/Illustration/Dado Ruvic/Files

KARACHI: Facebook-owned instant messaging service WhatsApp crashed for thousands of users around the world late Friday, according to Down Detector, a website that monitors app outages in real-time.

"There are a number of issues currently affecting Facebook products, including gaming streams,” Facebook’s gaming unit said in a tweet.

"Multiple teams are working on it, and we'll update you when we can."

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WhatsApp announced a few minutes before midnight that it was "back", thanking users for their patience.

However, several Whatsapp users said on social media that they were able to again send messages on the app shortly after 11pm.

Also read: Signal registrations increased as WhatsApp stops working

Earlier, as reports started flooding in, Down Detector wrote on Twitter that "Whatsapp is having problems since 1:34 PM EDT".

"Yes, WhatsApp is experiencing outages," WABetaInfo, a website that independently tracks and announces news about WhatsApp for iOS, Android, and Windows, also confirmed.

Several users took to Twitter to complain about the outage, with #whatsappoutage and #whatsappdown trending in many countries, including Pakistan and India.

Instagram outage reports, however, shot up from 34 at 10:12pm to a whopping 106,729, as of 10:42pm, as per Down Detector.

The real-time monitoring service indicated that while 788 WhatsApp users had sent crash reports, as of 10:15pm, the number had crossed 24,100 in 15 minutes.

Similarly, reports about Facebook's Messenger rose from 818, as of 10:17pm, to more than 5,600 in less than 15 minutes.

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