WhatsApp service restored after brief outage

WhatsApp yesterday went down globally, but the service was restored after a brief period much to the relief of users. Users could send and receive messages and could also log into their WhatsApp accounts after the brief outage.

"Earlier today, WhatsApp users globally had trouble accessing the app for about an hour. This issue has been fixed and we apologise for the inconvenience," a WhatsApp spokesperson told IANS.

Independent website DownDetector said, 60 per cent of customers faced issues connected to Facebook-owned WhatsApp. People experienced problems sending texts or were not able to log into the app.

"A further 25 per cent report issues receiving messages and 14 per cent are struggling to log in," Express.co.uk. reported. Some users also posted on Twitter to confirm the development and vent their frustration with #whatsappdown trending on the micro-blogging site.

The service was also affected in India and people were not able to connect with their friends or relatives. There was a similar situation in the US in in May this year and for a few hours in most parts of the world. WhatsApp counts about 1.3 billion users.

The trouble first emerged in India early in the afternoon and people initially blamed it on poor internet connectivity. Chats and contacts could be loaded, but once a user was entered in a chat box, the messages could not be delivered.

Meanwhile, 24 hours after WhatsApp messenger suffered a temporary outage in India and many other countries, the Messenger service too could not be accessed for a short period today

As per reports from multiple users on Twitter today many accounts were not able to send or receive any messages. A few users reported that they could not even see the older messages, but a few said they could see the message history.