Several tweets on Twitter today were about issues that some iPhone users were having with the WhatsApp app. Those suffering from this bug just could not open the messaging app on their iOS-powered handset as it would crash immediately after the icon was tapped on their iPhone home screen. With no recent WhatsApp updates to speak of, and with the beta version of the app crashing on Test Flight, the problem could be Facebook’s fault (the company is the parent of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger).
While some users made a connection between the bug and yesterday’s release of iOS 15.2, WhatsApp has been having problems with previous iOS versions putting the kibosh to that theory. Regardless of what is causing it to crash on iOS, WhatsApp hasn’t even made a public statement of any kind regarding the app’s inability to stay open for iPhone users. The bug is affecting both the regular version of WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business.
With end-to-end encryption maintaining your privacy, WhatsApp sends texts through your phone’s internet connection similar to how Apple’s iMessages and Google’s Rich Communication Service (RCS) works. The ability to send larger video files and messages, support for large group chats, Read Receipts, and more features have made WhatsApp the most popular messaging app in over 100 countries. The app has been installed over 5 billion times.
While Facebook doesn’t break out financials by individual apps, “experts” believe that WhatsApp helped generate between $5 billion and $10 billion in revenue for Facebook last year. It is estimated that the app has 2.3 billion daily active users (DAU), second behind parent Facebook’s 2.9 billion daily active users. As of this past July, the number of Monthly Active Users on WhatsApp was calculated at 2 billion.
If you’ve been experiencing these same problems with WhatsApp on your iPhone, let us know by dropping your comment in the comment box below.
