Twitter down: social media website and app aren’t working – again

It feels like every other week that the internet breaks – you've guessed it (from the headline), Twitter is down.

The social media giant is unavailable to loads of users – trying to access the web page brings up the message “Something went wrong. Try reloading.”, and the app won't refresh with newer tweets.

Reports on downdetector.co.uk jumped up into the thousands within minutes of the outage – it's worth pointing out that, while the reports also rose on downdetector.com (in the US), they didn't rise by nearly as much.

It sounds like a limited issue, as lots of TechRadar team members haven't had an issue. Saying that the sheer number of Downdetector reports shows that something is up.

Not only is the main Twitter feed down, but other Twitter sites are down too, like its Help site.

We just wanted to post a funny joke, and now we've discovered that Twitter isn't working. We're investigating.

Judging by reports from Downdetector and TechRadar's US team, the outage is affecting far fewer people in the US than in the UK – it seems mainly a British problem. Well, we can add that to the list after Freddos costing more, Magnums getting smaller and the whole cost of living thing.

In the UK, DownDetector reports more than 4,000 reports in the last few minutes. That's a huge number given how many we normally see – even for the major outages that affect multiple websites, we usually see one or two thousand reports.

This outage has come less than six weeks after the last Twitter outage.

That was a smaller one, as the main Twitter feed would load, but Tweets wouldn't – so you could see them, but not click on them or interact with them. 

Now, you can't see anything – it's radio silence.

Usually when there's an internet outage, people turn to Twitter to look for answers. That's… a little harder now.

We looked at Facebook, but Twitter itself hasn't posted there for several months. Last time it did, it was a screenshot of a Tweet about cats. What is this, 2007?

Facebook is a bit more community-focused though, so it's harder to see what people in the wider world are saying.

Reddit to the rescue though:

is_twitter_down_for_anyone_else_in_uk from r/Twitter

There's no official comment, but there are people from around the world commenting to say that Reddit isn't working for them.

Unfortunately, because Reddit's support and news room sites are all hosted by the media giant itself, they're not working either.

We're seeing a growing number of reports of outages from the US, but TechRadar's team based there hasn't seen anything.

It's likely that a server in Europe is at fault, which is why it's so much more of an issue for our UK readers than our US ones.

But we're waiting to find out from Twitter to see what's going on.

Oppo Find X5 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

Reports are well over 4,000 at the moment.

For context, the baseline is 3. That's a big difference.

Oh wait – Twitter is back! (for me at least)

This suggests the end of the outage could be here – just in time for you to return to work after your lunch break. What bad luck.

DownDetector reports for Twitter problems are finally going down – it looks like the outage could really be over.

It's not a steep plummet of reports, which suggests some people are still finding problems with their desktop site or phone app, but this at least tells us that the initial problem is being solved.

We've been looking to see if Twitter itself has commented on the outage – so far we can't see anything from any of its official accounts.

Saying that, it's got about a billion of its own accounts for different regions, aspects of the site and more, so it's very possible that one of them has posted, and we just haven't found it yet.

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New and improved Windows Media Player is rolling out to Windows 11 users

After being shown off in the Insider channels since November, Microsoft’s rebooted Windows Media Player is slowly being made available on the new Microsoft Store in Windows 11.

While it was first shown off by accident during a live podcast stream, an update in the Dev Channel in November revealed the existence of this new and improved media player.

It’s replacing Groove Music, the app that’s been Microsoft’s default media player for a while now, but the company seemingly wants to make a sequel to the iconic Windows Media Player from the early-noughties, when it was one of the most popular apps of its time.

But is there a place in 2022 for a new media app in Windows 11?

How to download Media Player in Windows 11

The new app requires you to update your device to Windows 11 build 22000.346 or later, where you can then head over to the Microsoft Store, and download the new media player for your device.

If you have Groove Music, Microsoft’s previous media app that’s been available since 2012, the new Windows Media Player will replace it. In our testing, we spotted that the new media player was available on some, but not all, of our Windows 11 devices.

But you can still download the original version of Windows Media Player, which has been available since 2012 if you want a nostalgic kick for your PC. But you won’t be able to take advantage of what the new media player brings.

Alongside HDR support when playing videos, the app has seen a redesign to match the Fluent design language of Windows 11 and Office 2021. The color scheme will also match whichever theme you have set for your PC, so Media Player won’t look out of place.


Analysis: Is there room for Windows Media Player in 2022?

The world is a different place since we were using MSN Messenger and Windows Media Player 9 back in 2002. It was before a time where Netflix existed, and ‘streaming’ was what rivers did, rather than being a way of watching media.

Windows Media Player 8 in Windows XP

(Image credit: Microsoft)

But now we’re spoilt for choice with the apps we can use to play our videos. While you can play videos on your Mac through QuickTime Player, or through third-party means such as IINA, Windows 11 has a wide variety to choose from.

From VLC Player to iTunes, it may require an extra push from Microsoft to make users aware of what was around during Windows 98, and why Windows Media Player is still worth using in 2022.

With Xbox, Surface, and other devices from the company, we may see variants of this new Windows Media Player start to appear on these products. But time will tell if users want to use a brand-new media player when there’s already a great catalog of media apps to choose from.

Via Windows Latest

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Voxi SIM only deals: boosted data, unlimited social media and cheap prices

Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat – they're all constant drains on your data, slowly pulling you to the inevitable 'you've run out of data' text from your provider. But Voxi and its latest SIM only deals have a solution to that.

Known for its ability to offer you unlimited access to social media and its persistent appearance in-between your Love Island watch sessions, Voxi is a strong option for anyone needing a new SIMO.

And right now seems like the best time to get one as it is currently offering boosted data on its two best plans. That means an additional 2GB or 5GB of data each month depending on which plan you choose.

And as another bonus, all Voxi's plans run for on 1-month rolling contracts so you can stay as long as you want or leave straight away. Of course, if you're not finding yourself scrolling through Instagram for hours or constantly checking Facebook, there are other SIM plans that may fit your needs more.

We've listed Voxi's data boosted deals and the best options from the rest of the market below for you to look through and compare.

Voxi's impressive SIM only deals:

What other SIM only deals are available?

While these offers are very attractive, there are a load of other SIM only deals you can go for. Three has been ruling the SIMO world for a while now with some excellent value offers. For the cheaper option, Three has a 8GB of data SIM for just £8 a month. Or go with its unlimited data offer costing just £18 a month

And it's worth taking a look at its closest competition – Smarty. You pay £15 a month for 50GB of data and get the benefits of a 1-month rolling contract. And, you can tether your devices so you can use your big data plan on your phone, tablet and computer.

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