Having issues launching apps like Spotify, TikTok, and Viber? If so, you're not alone.
There are widespread reports this evening of popular iOS apps crashing at launch. Judging by the complaints on DownDetector, the issue began around 3:30 pm PT/6:30 pm ET and it's been affecting major apps like Spotify, TikTok, Tinder, Pinterest, and Viber, among others.
As for what's causing the problem, there's speculation that it's related to the Facebook SDK that's used for sign-in in those apps. Facebook hasn't issued an official statement on the matter, but in a discussion thread on GitHub, one user who seems to be a Facebook engineer says that the server side change has been reverted and that the change could take "a few minutes" to propagate to all servers.
A source speaking to The Verge says that Facebook has disabled a server configuration update that caused the SDK to crash apps that were using it.
Judging by Down Detector, the issue does appear to be getting better. The complaints about apps like Spotify, TikTok, and Tinder all appear to be dropping.
It's a pretty big deal that an issue with the Facebook SDK could cause these apps to crash, especially because these are some of the biggest apps in the world. The one good bit of news here is that at least the issues didn't go on too long, especially considering that a lot of people are self-isolating at home and relying on apps like Spotify and TikTok for entertainment.
Have you been having any issues with apps crashing tonight?
