14 DAY TRIAL // UPDATE, June 2: WhatsApp version 2.16.5 is also causing issues on iPhones, as users are reporting random crashes after updating.
UPDATE, May 31: WhatsApp has finally released version 2.16.5 that appears to fix the issue, so if you're experiencing any link forwarding problems, make sure you update to this latest build.
UPDATE, May 26: The problem is stil there two days after we first reported it, despite the fact that several users have already confirmed it's happening on various iPhone models. No updates to WhatsApp have been released in the meantime and the company hasn't yet acknowledged th bug.
Original story below.
WhatsApp has released a new update for iOS devices earlier today, bringing the official app to version 2.16.4 and delivering a set of unnamed fixes to the iPhone.
And yet, it appears that these unnamed fixes aren’t the only things that users are receiving with the update, as they're also getting a new headache caused by what seems to be a bug experienced when trying to forward links.
WhatsApp version 2.16.4 crashes whenever users try to forward links on a device running iOS 9.3.2, and it appears that the problem occurs no matter the iPhone model. We’ve managed to reproduce the bug on both an iPhone 6s and an iPhone 6 with the latest versions of iOS and WhatsApp.
For the moment, the crash only seems to occur when forwarding links, and the app doesn’t display any kind of error, so it closes unexpectedly, and you’re brought back to the home screen. Forwarding photos, videos, and messages seem to be working fine.
No workaround is available at the moment, and it’s not yet clear if this is a widespread bug or not, but we’re looking into reports and will update the article when more info is available.
The WhatsApp nightmare on iOS 9
This isn’t the first time when WhatsApp is experiencing problems on iOS 9, and the mobile messaging app has actually been quite buggy since the first such version was launched.
More recently, we’ve seen isolated reports of battery issues caused by WhatsApp after the latest iOS updates, while others have complained that the app simply failed to connect for a random amount of time. Only yesterday, one of the iPhones here at Softpedia running the previous version of WhatsApp remained offline for approximately 30 minutes for no clear reason.
It goes without saying that WhatsApp needs more updates, fixes, and improvements on iOS, especially since it’s one of the essential apps for so many iPhone users. It remains to be seen how fast a new update is provided, but hopefully, it won’t take too long until this bug is fixed.