Filipinos report Spotify, Viber, Pinterest and Waze apps crashing on iPhones
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 9:30 p.m.) — There is no sufficient explanation yet for the simultaneous crashing of leading apps on iOS, the operating system of Apple iPhones, worldwide on Friday.
Early analysis of technology websites and experts, however, suggests that it was Facebook function related to its software development kit, or SDK, that temporarily broke the apps. Many apps use Facebook's SDK to manage logins.
In the Philippines, owners of iOS devices began reporting on social media on Friday afternoon that messaging app Viber, music streaming service Spotify, navigation app Waze and imageboard and social network Pinterest are crashing upon opening.
What happened to my spotify and viber ?????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/NRZzGbwFIf
— Maine Razon ???? (@adorablemaine) July 10, 2020
Viber not working on hubby’s iPhone. Spotify and Pinterest not working on my iPad. What’s going on?!
— Iris Thiele Isip Tan MD, MSc (@endocrine_witch) July 10, 2020
Updating and reinstalling the apps also do not solve the problem for many.
I think it’s an iOS issue. Viber, Waze, Pinterest, SoundCloud and Spotify are down.
— Teddy Dario (@teddydario) July 10, 2020
App users of audio distribution platform Soundcloud and payment service PayMaya are also encountering problems.
Spotify, for one, rose among the top five topics on Twitter's trending in the Philippines, joining four others related to the House of Representatives' rejection of the renewal of the franchise of broadcast giant ABS-CBN.
The Spotify crash on iPhones rose to the top five trending topics in the Philippines on Friday, July 10, 2020.
In a statement, Viber said the problem does not just involve a handful of apps on iOS, but thousands, "due to a technical problem that will be fixed anytime soon."
"Do not uninstall and reinstall Viber, it won't fix the problem," the company warned in a tweet. "Viber will be back anytime soon."
Viber users concentrated in the Philippines' Metro Manila and Cebu City areas reported downtime past 6:30 p.m., according to DownDetector.
Besides Viber, most of the companies behind the popular apps have yet to release an explanation for the simultaneous downtime on iOS.
The issue, however, does not appear to affect the apps' versions on the web or browsers and for Microsoft and Android devices.
Facebook's SDK causing problems for other apps on iOS is not something new, as it a similar incident was reported in May, technology website The Verge reported.
