WhatsApp was offline for a few hours. The chat app has recovered

UPDATE: The application is back to normal. Both the mobile and web versions are now fully functional.

WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular chat apps, is currently offline. It appears that users are unable to connect to the Meta chat service’s servers from either the mobile app or the desktop web interface in the browser. The last time WhatsApp was down was during the attack on Meta’s services, which rendered all of the company’s services inaccessible: Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhasApp and Oculus.

WhatsApp chat services are inaccessible globally

According to DownDetector, users started reporting problems as of 9:30 a.m. EST, with most reports coming in around 10 a.m. Compared to other apps or sites that might be offline, WhatsApp is more important, especially in certain regions. In India, for example, users can even shop on WhatsApp, and many companies have technical support services around the world (including Huawei in Romania) via Meta’s chat service.

According to TechCrunch, Meta has already provided an official statement confirming that there are problems, but not revealing when the service is expected to return:

“We are aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we are working to restore WhatsApp to everyone as quickly as possible.”

This statement would suggest that WhatsApp would work in some regions, but at the moment news outlets around the world are reporting that chat services are not working.

WhatsApp is used globally by billions of people, with over 100 billion messages sent through it every day. But that figure was valid in 2020. It’s unclear whether WhatsApp services have grown even more in the past two years, or whether usage levels have dropped in the meantime.

We will update this article when more information is available.