What's Up WhatsApp?

When you can't find a solution to a product problem and the vendor is unwilling to provide useful feedback, what can you do next?

Setting the Scene

I've spent more years than I really care to consider working in IT. Like most people in such roles, I have provided technical support to others as a day-to-day paid role (both in and out of hours) and also privately as the 'techy' friend, partner or family member. I understand the need to obtain full details, suitable diagnostic data and to manage expectations. I recognise the importance of continuity and effective communication. I have direct experience of customer concern and impatience.

So when - despite years of trouble shooting and problem solving experience on different platforms - I still meet problems that I cannot solve myself, what do I do next? I reach out for help. Nowadays of course that means first trying Google to search for a relevant manufacturer website or forum and try to fit my particular problem to someone else's description. Playing around for a while with different groups of words, removing some which give bad matches, swapping others as I read questions or solutions that are near to mine but not the same. 80-90% of the time that will provide an answer. Failing that, then the my last option will be to try vendor support. Why vendor support last? Because in my experience that's usually the slowest way to an answer...

The Real Problem

Currently with Covid-19 around the world, then like an enormous number of people I'm socially distancing / self-isolating at home. That also means that like a huge percentage my communication tools have become a literal lifeline. Being able to chat and talk to my family and friends is certainly vital to my well-being. Again, like many, the platform we've all turned to is WhatsApp, that now ubiquitous carrier of messages, pictures, memes, links, soundbites and emojis. Or at least for me it was ...

Since I changed from iOS (iPhone 7) to Android (Huawei P30 Pro) last year, I've had occasional problems with WhatsApp. I would sometimes have to restart it a few times before it would stay up, but that's all. Otherwise, it mostly worked well, so it was effectively invisible.

18th March 2020

On the 18th March, that changed. Whenever I tried to start WhatsApp, it almost instantly vanished with no error message, I tried restarting multiple times with exactly the same result. I followed my usual problem solving routine above, found various options to try - took it offline/online, restarted the phone, cleared the cache etc. nothing resolved the problem. I was resistant to performing a full re-install as I have plenty of conversations I am loath to lose and as I could not access WhatsApp, I could not check when my last backup was taken. Time to contact support, I provided full details of my problem - clearly stating that I could not get into WhatsApp - and waited.

19th March 2020

WhatsApp support replied - "Thanks for contacting WhatsApp. Our support team has received your request. We’ll reach out to you regarding your inquiry as soon as we can."

Then four hours later WhatsApp support replied again, asking for a video of the problem.

I replied with the requested video a little later in the afternoon.

20th March 2020

WhatsApp support replied - asking me to re-install WhatsApp, but suggesting I should first backup my chat history before uninstalling.

I replied explaining that I was unable to perform a backup as I could not access WhatsApp.

WhatsApp support replied - providing instructions for backing up WhatsApp that first involved accessing WhatsApp!

I replied (again) detailing that I could not perform a backup as I could not access WhatsApp.

WhatsApp support replied - "We've recently replied to your initial request. Please refer to it for more information."

I replied (again) restating the problem, that I was unable to access backup, unable to confirm when my last backup was taken and was therefore concerned that I would lose my data if I performed a re-install as I had been advised.

21st March 2020

No reply, so e-mailed WhatsApp support again asking if there was any sort of support they could provide.

WhatsApp support replied - "Thanks for contacting WhatsApp. Our support team has received your request. We’ll reach out to you regarding your inquiry as soon as we can.".

23rd March 2020

Nothing further from WhatsApp support, in the meantime (without any help from WhatsApp) I had discovered that my last backup was taken on the 18th March and that I could sometimes access direct to messages if I clicked on the Android notifications. So I wrote again.

WhatsApp support replied - "Thanks for contacting WhatsApp. Our support team has received your request. We’ll reach out to you regarding your inquiry as soon as we can."

25th March 2020

WhatsApp support replied - Asking me to download an APK file directly from their website and to try installing that. Additionally if it didn't work, to then send a message directly from WhatsApp.

Bit the bullet, downloaded the file and re-installed WhatsApp without deleting my data. No difference, still unable to access WhatsApp.

WhatsApp support replied - now apparently to my message from the 23rd March - asking me to try a complete WhatsApp reinstall. I already had done ...

26th March 2020

I replied with a full description and breakdown of all steps attempted to resolve the issue to that point with no success (mostly that I had found by myself on the internet). Made it clear that I was ready to help debug the problem if that was required.

WhatsApp support replied - "For the best communication experience, we suggest upgrading OS or phone."

27th March 2020

I replied - Detailed that as I was using a Huawei P30 Pro running Android 10 and that I didn't feel the previous response was helpful. Reiterating that I was willing to help with a debug.

In the meantime I continued to search online for ideas and try other things myself. Then finally, through brute force (literally hundreds of cycles of attempting to hit the correct menu positions in the brief moments before WhatsApp failed), I managed to access the WhatsApp backup menu and perform a backup! Once the backup was completed, I opted to bring out the big guns and perform a full factory reset on my phone... which unfortunately made no difference at all. Once I had restored my data, WhatsApp continued to crash as before.

I replied to WhatsApp support once more detailing this news.

WhatsApp support replied - "Sorry for the inconvenience. We are aware of the issue and we are working on fixing it in a future update of WhatsApp. Unfortunately, we can't comment on any future release dates at this time."

30th March 2020

I replied - Querying if that was all they could tell me, if there was nothing else they could do, explaining my situation and dependence upon WhatsApp in this difficult period.

WhatsApp support replied - "We’re sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue. Unfortunately, we can't provide any comments. Please visit our blog or Help Center to find out the latest information."

6th April 2020

No more feedback from WhatsApp support. I can occasionally access messages from Android notifications and also sometimes access a few chats using the sub-menu that appears if I hold down the WhatsApp icon. My last backup was on the 27th March. If people call me (voice or video) then the call may stay stable for a little while before WhatsApp crashes.

I look back at all the WhatsApp Support messages with their cheerful sign-offs of "If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We'll be happy to help!" and "Let us know if the problem persists. We'll be happy to look into this for you." knowing that they're simply not true.

So finally I'm reduced to asking on here "What's Up WhatsApp?"