Massive Snapchat crash is still locking out users, despite official 'fix'

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(Image credit: Ink Drop / Shutterstock.com)

Snapchat has been the latest service to suffer from a mass outage, with well over 100,000 users self-reporting issues over the website Downdetector, seemingly unable to login and either share or create content on the platform (via The Verge).

Problems apparently began on July 28, with Snapchat acknowledging that "we're aware of an issue with the latest version of Snapchat available in the App Store," while stating that a fix was incoming. The outage appears to be largely focused in the US, though TechRadar staffers in the UK have also been affected, suggesting a significant scale to the problem.

Users in droves started reporting issues the day after, likely once the update had come into effect on more users' phones. Reports have largely trickled out, though some appear to be experiencing some worrying issues, even after Snapchat announced an official fix had been implemented.

If you are still experiencing issues, Snapchat recommends you "manually update to version 11.34.1.35" to see if that fixes things – you can do this by heading to the app store, clicking on the Snapchat icon and selecting update.

Other users report better success deleting and reinstalling the app, or simply offloading the app (which keeps relevant documents and data used by the app on your phone, rather than deleting it wholesale). Others, however, are still struggling to access their account.

Is my Snapchat account ok?

While the majority of users appear to be past the issue, issues linger for a small number, who are seemingly unable to open the app, or in some cases finding that Snapchat appears to have forgotten their account entirely.

Multiple users have taken to replying to Snapchat's Twitter post with gifs of their continuing issues, with the app closing as soon as it's opened

Others are reporting an error message while attempting to login, with the app saying "Oops! We could not find matching credentials," causing some to worry that their account has been lost or deleted amidst the chaos of the new update. Others see a similar message that just says "Please check your connection."

We expect these lingering issues to be fixed in the short term, too – Snapchat will obviously be keen to resolve the problem and ensure regular users are in the app, upping their usage metrics, and it's much more likely to be an in-app issue accessing the correct details rather than accounts being mysteriously wiped from Snapchat's servers.

We have seen Snapchat acknowledge "a technical issue impacting some Snapchatters," too. In the meantime, if you're still affected, TikTok should now be working again after similar outages earlier in the month.

Henry St Leger

Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.