WhatsApp down: Messaging app not working as people unable to chat with friends

Messages won't send or receive, and some people can't load the app at all

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 03 May 2017 22:06 BST
Comments
The app isn't loading at all, some users say
The app isn't loading at all, some users say (iStock)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

WhatsApp has completely broken.

People are unable to send or receive chats or even load up conversations, according to users.

And there doesn't seem to be any easy way of fixing the issue, which is affecting many of its users and is likely a problem with its servers.

Problems with the app surged over the last hour, according to the website Down Detector.

Those problems were particularly focused in western Europe, the East Coast of the US and South America, according to the same website. But that may simply be a result of timezones, and the problems could be happening elsewhere.

Users are reporting problems with sending and receiving messages, logging in or loading the app at all.

The chat app breaks less than some of its competitors. But it has run into problems in the past – including a major outage that hit it on New Year's Eve in 2015.

Unlike other popular apps, WhatsApp doesn't maintain a status page to alert users to when it is broken. It has a Twitter account intended for doing so but hasn't used it since 2014, despite having more than two million follows.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in