WhatsApp experiences global outage with thousands affected

You may have thought your friends were ignoring you in WhatsApp, but the silence was the result of an outage.

The Facebook-owned app started experiencing issues at around 4pm ET, affecting  tens of thousands of users across the globe.

Many reported issues with connecting to the platform, along with sending or receiving messages and logging in.

The outage appears to have be plaguing the Americas, Europe and parts of Asia – but reports are came from all parts of the world.

The issue was resolved and services restored by 6pm ET. 

WhatsApp experienced issues around 4pm ET for tens of thousands of users across the globe. Many users reported issues with connecting to the platform, along with sending or receiving messages and logging in

DownDetector, a site that monitors outages for websites and online services, began showing complaints WhatsApp was down Tuesday afternoon.

And within some 30 minutes, more than 19,000 users shared their frustration on the site. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to Facebook for comment and is yet to receive a response.  

Issues appeared in Europe and South America first, but have trickled into the US with many Americans saying they are unable to make calls in the app. 

Downdetector shows that many users are unable dealing with connection issues, followed by problems with sending and receiving messages – only some three percent are unable to log into the app. 

First released in 2009, the app has become a staple for chatting with friends and family - and not being able to use the app has sparked a frenzy on Twitter. Users who are suffering from technical issues flocked to the social media site to share their frustrations

First released in 2009, the app has become a staple for chatting with friends and family – and not being able to use the app has sparked a frenzy on Twitter. Users who are suffering from technical issues flocked to the social media site to share their frustrations

Many said they were not sure if their friends were ignoring them or the app was down

Many said they were not sure if their friends were ignoring them or the app was down

WhatsApp is a a cross-platform messaging and calling service owned by Facebook, which purchased the technology in 2014.

First released in 2009, the app has become a staple for chatting with friends and family – and not being able to use the app has sparked a frenzy on Twitter.

Users who are suffering from technical issues flocked to the social media site to share their frustrations.

Many said they were not sure if their friends were ignoring them or the app was down.

Many users reported issues with connecting to the platform, along with sending or receiving messages and logging in

 Many users reported issues with connecting to the platform, along with sending or receiving messages and logging in

Many users were unaware WhatsApp was done on Tuesday and thought it was a problem with their device

Many users were unaware WhatsApp was done on Tuesday and thought it was a problem with their device

This is the second time this year WhatsApp has gone down, but in April it was followed by Facebook and Instagram.

According to DownDetector, Instagram experienced the most widespread outages with users across the US and Europe as well as some in South America reporting being unable to load news feeds and stories.

By 5pm ET on Wednesday March 31, more than 28,000 reports had flooded Downdetector.

Thousands of reports also centered on Facebook’s primary social media site and app and WhatsApp, which is a messaging service owned by the company.

The majority of Facebook users reported being unable to see pictures while others said their newsfeeds weren’t loading.

WhatsApp reports indicated that many users were unable connect with the service or were unable to receive or send messages.

The biggest issue that plagued WhatsApp users was the inability to connect to the app

The biggest issue that plagued WhatsApp users was the inability to connect to the app

WhatsApp is a a cross-platform messaging and calling service owned by Facebook, which purchased the technology in 2014. Losing service seems to be devastating for some users

WhatsApp is a a cross-platform messaging and calling service owned by Facebook, which purchased the technology in 2014. Losing service seems to be devastating for some users

The outage created a frenzy on Twitter, as many users shared their frustrations of not being able to communicate with friends and family. Issues appeared in Europe and South America first, but have trickled into the US with many Americans saying they are unable to make calls

The outage created a frenzy on Twitter, as many users shared their frustrations of not being able to communicate with friends and family. Issues appeared in Europe and South America first, but have trickled into the US with many Americans saying they are unable to make calls

A Facebook spokesperson declined to specify the nature of the outage, stating only that it was a ‘network error.’   

‘Some people may have had trouble with images across our family of apps due to a network error,’ a Facebook spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

‘The issue has been resolved and we are back up and running. We apologize for any inconvenience.’

A spokesperson said that the network issue was not related to higher than usual internet usage – an influx that has caused other services to experience similarly widespread outages.

The spokesperson declined to specify the nature of the ‘network error’ and stated that the company didn’t ‘typically [go] into that level of detail’ on such matters.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk