Snapchat and Instagram back up and running after Monday outage
Both social platforms were having issues with sending messages.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Snapchat users were left unable to send each other messages on Monday afternoon.
Snapchat and Instagram were both struggling on Monday afternoon, with users unable to send chats. Tests of both apps showed everything else working -- on Snapchat you could send snaps and see stories and on Instagram you could view your feed and stories and send pictures.
Snapchat confirmed it was completely back online as of around 3:30 p.m. PT. Snapchat messages starting going through at around 2:30 p.m. PT.
"We're aware some Snapchatters are having trouble sending Chats. We are looking into it," Snapchat tweeted at 1:51 p.m. PT.
"The issue has been resolved," it then tweeted at 3:26 p.m. "If you're still having trouble, please let us know!"
Instagram wasn't back up and running until 7:00 p.m. Monday. "We are back to 100% for everyone. We're sorry for any inconvenience," a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Down Detector saw more than 25,500 reported issues with Snapchat, and 8,500 reports on Instagram during the afternoon. The problems were experienced globally, according to Down Detector's live coverage maps.
Me when i press the “tap to retry” button and it still doesn’t send after the 50th time #snapchatdown #snapchat pic.twitter.com/Y2B2f1pyfP
— lukeharle (@lukeharle1) September 9, 2019
"Instagram and Snapchat down," one user tweeted. "At least i still have twitter. Twitter never lets me down #snapchatdown #instagramdown."
Instagram and Snapchat down at least i still have twitter. Twitter never lets me down #snapchatdown #instagramdown pic.twitter.com/z37Ds8ejsx
— mika cus lazy (@idyllicpain) September 9, 2019
Facebook also appeared to join the outage party at around 2:17 p.m. PT, according to Down Detector, which said Canadian users were reporting issues. Around 3,000 reports of Facebook issues had been received by Down Detector as of 2:42 p.m. PT. Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Originally published Sept. 9 at 2:20 p.m. PT.
Update, 2:41 p.m.: Adds Instagram response; 2:46 p.m.: Adds Facebook reports; 2:50 p.m.: Instagram and Snapchat messages start working again; 3:36 p.m.: Adds Snapchat confirmation it's back online; Sept. 10 at 2:40 p.m.: Adds Instagram confirmation it's back online