WhatsApp Goes Down For More Than One Hour

UPDATE: Popular messaging platform, WhatsApp, is back. Viral Tea's newsdesk could receive and send messages through the platform after the platform went down for more than an hour.

Meta is still yet to issue a statement on the issue by the time of publication.

Popular messaging application, WhatsApp, under the parent company Meta, is down.

Spot checks by Viral Tea indicated that messages sent to WhatsApp groups and individuals were not going through, and neither were new messages being received as of Tuesday, October 25.

According to Downdetector, an online platform that provides users with real-time information about the status of various websites and services, a majority of users (74 per cent) reported being unable to send messages, with the first down report recorded at 9.40 am Kenyan time.

Reports increased onwards from 10 am and by 10.30 am, the messaging app completely crashed.

A person clicking on WhatsApp on their phone. /FILE

12 per cent of the complaints were on the app not working efficiently, while three per cent was on WhatsApp web not linking well with the app.

A section of Kenyans relied on other apps such as Twitter to raise complaints with regard to the issue which affected WhatsApp groups as well.

"WhatsApp going down at the same time the office internet is experiencing a bit of downtime. Worst mid-Tuesday morning," Marvin Chege tweeted.

"What's the issue with WhatApp groups today? Messages not going through and all," Martin Wachira weighed in. 

"You have received 175 MB + Free WhatsApp with no expiry. Enjoy the Free WhatsApp when your bundle is depleted. Does this mean I can’t use WhatsApp until the bundles are depleted? Because I can’t use WhatsApp at the moment," added Nanjie Galgalo.

Meta had not released a statement on the issue by the time of publication. Also affected was its website application on PCs.

The company has been dealing with hitches, some of which have affected critical areas by users, including follower count. Several Facebook users for instance complained when they lost most of their followers on the social media platform.

Notably, the situation also affected Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg who also lost over 119 million followers, bringing down his follower count to a maximum of 9,000. 

Meta resolved the situation a week later, as users regained their original follower count. 

Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg during a past Facebook forum. /FILE