Settings in the latest OS update prevented the app from displaying notifications

Jun 2, 2014 11:58 GMT  ·  By

In early April, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft made official its latest mobile operating system version, in the form of Windows Phone 8.1, and also made it available for download as a Developer Preview starting with the middle of the month.

Soon after, users have discovered a series of issues with some of the applications already loaded on their devices, including WhatsApp, which appeared to be behaving badly on the new OS version, and which disappeared from the Windows Phone Store soon after.

Both Microsoft and WhatsApp said at the time that a series of technical issues have influenced the removal of the application, but they did not offer an exact explanation for what happened.

Over the weekend, the application has returned to the Windows Phone Store, and both Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 users can now download and install it on their smartphones once again.

Furthermore, an official explanation on what has happened with the app has been also provided, and we can now learn specifics on the aforementioned technical issues cited before.

As expected, the problem was related to the app’s notification system, which was the very first to start acting strange after the release of Windows Phone 8.1.

Speaking to BGR.in, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore has confirmed this, explaining that the settings introduced in the latest OS version where in conflict with those available in WhatsApp, and that this was why users could no longer receive notifications in the application.

“So what happened is that they discovered on our latest update there is a relatively obscure end user setting where users could restrict background data use in conjunction with Data Sense,” Joe Belfiore said.

“What happens is if you enable that, you won’t receive WhatsApp messages and you don’t get notified. So they came to us and said that they want their users to have the awareness of that.”

“So we have been working with them on a fix, and I believe they are already testing the fix on beta and I believe they will be deploying it back into the world soon,” he also said. The interview, however, took place last week, and WhatsApp is available for download on Windows Phone once again.

What’s interesting to note is that the aforementioned change in settings is said to have been performed in Windows Phone 8 Update 3, though WP8 users out there haven’t had issues with the app so far.

Although available for download only as a Developer Preview for the time being, Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to start arriving as an official update very soon. All Windows Phone 8 handsets out there will receive it, Microsoft has announced.

You can download WhatsApp for Windows Phone from Softpedia today.