WhatsApp back after nearly 2-hr global outage

New Delhi: WhatsApp services were restored following a nearly two-hour-long global outage on Tuesday that left users from the UK to India complaining about not being able to send or receive text and video messages. Meta, which owns the popular messaging app, said it has fixed the outage - dubbed as one of its longest - and the service was back. It, however, did not explain what caused the glitch.

According to Downdetector, which tracks outage reports, the messaging app was not working for many users across multiple regions. WhatsApp Web, the app's web version, used by many on their desktops and laptops, was also hit by the outage. "We know people had trouble sending messages on WhatsApp today. We've fixed the issue and apologise for any inconvenience," a Meta company spokesperson said. Meta, previously known as Facebook, bought WhatsApp in 2014.

According to Downdetector, WhatsApp faced problems since 3:17 AM EDT (12:47 pm). Users in Asia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Europe experienced the issue while sending and receiving texts and videos on WhatsApp. This was WhatsApp's first major outage since the October 5, 2021, snag that took down WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook together, affecting millions of users for several hours before services were restored.

Tuesday's outage happened ahead of a partial solar eclipse that was to begin at 2.28 pm. The two events are, however, not linked. Amid an extended period of festivities in India comprising Diwali and Bhai Dooj, users began experiencing and reporting disruption of services on the popular messaging platform on Tuesday. Meta did not say what led to the outage.