BriefTea
Every story in sixty words
Get the free app no ads · no paywallExplained in plain English
Downdetector is a website that tracks the status of various websites and services by collecting problem reports from users. When many people report issues, like with Microsoft Outlook in the story, Downdetector can quickly identify widespread outages, often before the company itself acknowledges them. It's a useful tool for checking if a problem is just you or a bigger issue.
Stories that explain this
Lloyds, Halifax apps crash for thousands: What's causing frequent outages? Over 5,000 Microsoft Outlook users report problems receiving messagesRelated explainers
Why do apps crash? What is a banking group? Can I switch banks easily? Why did Microsoft say 'operational'? Why do services go down? What is 'trending on social media'?The full catalogue
Browse every card filed under D →We would like to count visits and see which links bring readers here. That means storing a random ID in your browser. No cookies, no ads, no profile. How it works.