Popular messaging service WhatsApp has disappeared without warning from the Windows Phone Store, and it now seems that technical difficulties are to blame.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular cross-platform messaging services and it works great with all mobile operating systems, but the app was unexpectedly removed from the Windows Phone Store. WP users who already had WhatsApp installed are not affected and can continue using the service, but those who are just looking to install the app are out of luck for now.
Searching for WhatsApp now in the Windows Phone Store will simply return an error message stating that the item you are looking for could not be found. Visiting the app page from your PC, meanwhile, will show that the app is no longer published on the store, as seen in the image above.
The folks over at WPCentral were the first ones to spot this occurrence, and at first no explanation was available as to why WhatsApp had disappeared from the Windows Phone Store.
The company later explained why the app is no longer available for download on devices running Microsoft's mobile operating system. As it turns out, WhatsApp intentionally took down its app from the Windows Phone Store due to some technical issues, but is reportedly working on fixing them. The company did not specify what issues are marring the experience, but it will resubmit the app once they fix the bugs.
"Unfortunately due to technical issues, we have chosen to un-publish WhatsApp Messenger on the Windows Phone platform," the company told WPCentral. "We are working closely with Microsoft to resolve the issues and hope to return to the store shortly. We apologize to our users for the temporary inconvenience."
Other versions of the cross-platform messaging system seem to remain unaffected by these issues and are running as usual, allowing new users to download and install WhatsApp. In other words, only Windows Phone users who don't have the app are affected, but it shouldn't last long.
WhatsApp did not offer a timeframe for when the app will become available again on the Windows Phone Store, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.
