It’s not your phone or your network provider, WhatsApp is down worldwide

Leonard Sengere Avatar

WhatsApp is down for many people across the globe. It all started around 9:00 am CAT, many people started reporting that they could not send messages, see statuses etc.

On WhatsApp web and the desktop app, I am stuck on a ‘Connecting to WhatsApp, Make sure your computer has an active Internet connection.’ Many more are reporting the same from all over the world.

Downdetector is a service that offers real-time status and outage information for various services. It shows that there was a spike in reports of the service being down, with the most reported problems being; sending messages, server connection and the app.

WhatsApp themselves have acknowledged the outage,

We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible

Joshua Breckman, WhatsApp spokesperson

Yearly outages?

For the most part, WhatsApp has been reliable in its 12 years of existence. However, we remember the infamous outage of October 2021 that saw Instagram and Facebook go down too.

In two consecutive Octobers, WhatsApp has seen outages and for a service that has become more than just a ‘stay in touch with 3rd cousins’ service, this has many worried. What kind of maintenance work do they do in October? Last time around it was because of some configuration changes to Meta routers.

This time around Facebook and Instagram, the other Meta platforms do not seem to be affected.

The talk of alternatives

You just know that when stuff like this happens, the calls by Telegram and Signal users for the rest of us to move to those services can be deafening. In Zimbabwe at least, let’s not go down that route. It’s a waste of time for everyone.

We are not migrating people from WhatsApp because of an outage-a-year problem. Last time around it took 6 hours for the issue to be resolved, and life carried on like nothing ever happened. Did some people miss out on life-changing deals? Sure.

There are millions that use WhatsApp to market and sell their goods and services and a 6-hour outage is one lost day. Unfortunately, time is the one resource we cannot get back once it’s gone.

That means we probably need a backup service to use in times when WhatsApp goes down, something we might have to contend with more and more. That may be but that is not going to happen any time soon. WhatsApp has to deteriorate so much for that to become reality.

So, let’s soldier through this outage without raising each other’s hopes about Telegram finally getting the chance it deserves. Zimbabweans understand WhatsApp and network providers have made it so that it will take some effort to move people over to a new service.

If Sasai, which is cheaper than WhatsApp to use and has the backing of the biggest mobile network provider failed to make a dent, I don’t see a yearly WhatsApp outage being the thing that gives Telegram wings.

No, your WhatsApp calls are ‘probably’ not being recorded

Facebook, WhatsApp And Instagram Went Down, Users Around The World Left Frustrated

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13 comments

  1. Ralph

    Zvinhu zvinepazvokundikana let’s agree with that and move on with life. Although zvangu I’m a Telegram user not worried neWhatsapp zvachose

    1. Leonard Sengere

      I used to prefer Telegram but in the end I realised it was a pipedream. The few convos that took place there had to be migrated to WhatsApp and I can’t say I’m missing out on anything. Yes, Telegram gets new features quicker but the core WhatsApp messaging service is solid enough, I’m not bothered.

  2. Metal Gear

    WhatsApp should ban those Vigpower spam ads they are annoying😤

    1. Anonymous

      😁😁😁😁😁

    2. Leonard Sengere

      Are these popping up on GB WhatsApp? Have never heard of them.

    3. George

      Actually they are not spam ads, just people advertising and doing business, hustling to get money.

  3. Withheld

    Let’s use local solutions. SASAI which also has a cheap bundle at $20 bond for 200mb

    1. Anonymous

      How do u use something when the parent Econet treats their own child Sasai like an adopted child…..

      1. Leonard Sengere

        Exactly. The parent doesn’t seem to care, why should we?

  4. Imi Vanhu Musadaro

    Downtime, 1 year apart, is a cause for concern? 😂 Many people didn’t even notice it was down.

    It’s not even enough to establish it as a yearly pattern.

    Our banks and ISPs have more downtime than that on a monthly/bi-monthly basis, and these systems are arguably more important than WhatsApp and even that doesn’t raise concern.

  5. D.K.

    Due to power cuts and load shedding, most people will only hear of WhatsApp having been down for about an hour later today or tomorrow when power returns. Being a worldwide phenomenon, I will not pin the outage on sanctions or the 25 October event which people should not really be looking forward to being on for many Octobers to come.

  6. King Adoe

    Imagine such thing happening while you are using Telecel line

  7. Mohamed Sesay

    i want to deolied gb whatsapp

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