WhatsApp 'Obsolete Error' Faced by Indian Users; Google Play Says App Up-to-Date

WhatsApp users in India are reportedly facing a version ‘obsolete’ error when trying to run the chat messaging platform. Users from different parts of the country have complained about an issue wherein they are not able to login to the messaging platform and are faced by an error mentioning that the version being used is ‘obsolete’. WhatsApp team has acknowledged the bug and has said that they are working on a fix, after several users took to Twitter to report the problem.

The bug, first discovered on January 13, was brought to the limelight by several Twitter users who also posted screenshots of the issue. The screenshots read: “This version of WhatsApp became obsolete on 13 Jan 2018. Please go to the Google Play Store to download the latest version.” When these users tried to update the app, Google Play responded with an ‘app is up-to-date’ message in return. As per the users, even deleting and re-installing the app did not solve the issue. In parallel, an additional message popped up for some WhatsApp Beta Testers, which read ‘Leave testing program’.

WhatsApp issued a statement acknowledging the bug, “On background, this is an issue that’s being fixed. It was a problem with how our app is distributed, which is not under our control.” The bug even extended to the Web version of the messaging platform, wherein a few users indicated that the app was unable to scan the QR code to log in.

Recent reports on WhatsApp also hinted at an upcoming feature on the chat platform which would help its users avoid spam messages.

When I woke up today morning and opened whatsapp, it said The version became obsolete on 13 Jan 2018 and update the app. When I checked in Google play, it says app is updated. Then I re-installed the app, but same message is appearing. What is happening?#whatsappdown pic.twitter.com/STYMuFqwLE

— Rahul Rampure (@RahulRampure) January 13, 2018