The WhatsApp outage on July 19 that lasted for about an hour impacted services and was reported by over 2 million users, Downdetector told The Cyber Express.
Downdetector is an online platform that provides users with real-time information about the status of various websites and services. The outage left users turning to Twitter to exchange messages and discuss the issue.
WhatsApp outage explained
The Cyber Express reached out to Downdetector to assess the scope of the outage on July 19. Downdetector presented a graph showing the timing of the incident on WhatsApp as shown below –
The WhatsApp outage reached a high level between 2 A.M. to 4 A.M. ET and was reported by several users to Downdetector.
“At a global level, Downdetector saw just over 2 million user reports for WhatsApp on July 19,” a Downdetector spokesperson told The Cyber Express.
Downdetector found nearly 100,000 reports of the WhatsApp outage from users in the United States alone. This number of reports saw a significant increase starting at 3 P.M. central standard time.
“Users mainly reported issues with sending messages, app, and server connection,” the Downdetector spokesperson continued.
When asked about the cause of such an outage on WhatsApp, it was clarified by the Downdetector spokesperson that they can successfully gauge what is happening with a website. However, may not be in a position to diagnose why as the website might.
Shedding light on how the detection company performs the checks on websites and their internet status, they said, “Downdetector relies on consumer-generated reporting of experienced issues.”
Presently, this geolocation was shared on their website for possible outage information based on user reports in India. Such instances are reported back to the affected companies when the volume of reports for a said time range goes beyond a said limit.
Previous WhatsApp outage
This is not the first time an outage on WhatsApp, of other Meta services, was reported.
Earlier this month and in June, other social media apps owned by Meta besides WhatsApp experienced an outage. Instagram, Facebook, and Threads were impacted by what became known as an outage.
The outage on July 10 impacted several of Meta Platforms’ social media apps, including Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Threads.
During the peak of the outage, which lasted for over an hour, Instagram experienced the most severe issues, with over 14,000 users reporting difficulties in accessing the platform, Reuters reported citing Downdetector data.
Facebook and WhatsApp were also affected, with approximately 7,000 and 2,700 users, respectively, facing similar problems.
Even Meta’s latest offering, Threads, was not spared from the outage. Around 470 users reported encountering difficulties while trying to access the app, the report said.
Addressing the WhatsApp outage on July 19, the company made announcements on Twitter. First, they confirmed experiencing issues by saying that they were working to resolve connectivity issues. And then announced that the services were back to normal functioning.
In the United Kingdom, 175,000 users experienced issues in exchanging messages owing to the WhatsApp outage. However, the number decreased to 1,500 affected users in a few hours.
However, the incident in June was later reported to be because of the company’s Ads Manager. The Cyber Express is awaiting confirmation.
As of October 2021, Statista reported that WhatsApp boasts a staggering user base of approximately 2 billion active monthly users, making it the leading messaging app in popularity.
Its parent company, Meta, also owns the second most popular app, Facebook Messenger, with 1.3 billion active monthly users.
The significant difference in user numbers solidifies WhatsApp’s position as the dominant force in the messaging app landscape.