Popular messaging app Whatsapp experienced a widespread outage on Monday, leaving users across its mobile and web platforms unable to send messages or post Status updates.

Monitoring site DownDetector showed a sharp spike in problem reports beginning at about 12.00 pm IST. The surge suggested a sudden, large-scale disruption to the messaging service.

Downdetector, a website that tracks the status of online services, registered a sharp rise in problem reports starting at around 1:10 p.m., reaching nearly 300 complaints by 1:55 p.m and around 420 by 2.20 p.m. According to the platform, 54 per cent of users reported trouble connecting to WhatsApp’s servers, 24 per cent encountered website issues, and 22 per cent faced problems within the mobile app.

The outage-monitoring site flags an incident only when user complaints spike well above the usual level for that time of day.

Both Android and iOS users, as well as those accessing WhatsApp via the web, reported the same problem. Many also reported being unable to link new devices to their WhatsApp accounts during the disruption, further compounding the connectivity issues.

Frustrated users turned to social media to report connectivity issues, describing failed attempts to send or receive messages and interruptions to the app’s Status feature.

 

The scale of the disruption is still unclear, and WhatsApp has not immediately issued a statement addressing the cause of the outage.

This isn’t the first time the Meta-owned service has gone dark this year. In April, WhatsApp suffered a similar outage that left users unable to send messages or post Status updates for several hours.

Data from DownDetector at the time showed that 81 per cent of users reported problems sending messages, while 16 per cent flagged broader app issues on 12 April.

A larger disruption hit in February, triggering widespread complaints about failures on WhatsApp Web, the mobile app and calls. Users were unable to connect, send messages or place calls through the platform. DownDetector logged more than 9,000 reports during that incident.

(With inputs from IANS)