Google Hangouts, Gmail Chat and Google Spreadsheets Go Down (opens in new tab)

(techcrunch.com)

86 pointsDerekH12y ago38 comments

38 comments

So the status page ( http://www.google.com/appsstatus ) mentions that Hangouts isn't covered by an SLA. Is that still true if you bought one of the Chromebox for Meetings which when discussed sounded like it used the same infrastructure?

Or are those Hangouts actually Google Talk and not G+ Hangouts? And how stupid is it that that is something resembling a decent question?

ChikkaChiChi12y ago

Talk is still covered in the SLA, Hangouts is not.

Don't ask me to explain what PHB came up with that logic.

didgeoridoo12y ago

Just got an email from Google on my grandfathered free Apps account encouraging me to upgrade to "ensure 99.9% uptime". Excellent timing, guys.

psbp12y ago

30 minutes out of a year is less than .1%

noise12y ago

Same here. Coincidence? I think not. They even added details about how much Drive data I have, a passive threat that it might not be safe if I don't cough up for the paid account.

rkuykendall-com12y ago

Same: "Get 99.9% guaranteed uptime for Gmail and other business features"

Very poor timing.

casca12y ago

Amusingly, with Hangouts down, Skype video chats have become unusable. Time to move to Jitsi[1]?

[1] https://jitsi.org/

rkuykendall-com12y ago

The nice thing about WebRTC is that video chat services have exploded. I've been using https://appear.in/ lately. It couldn't be simpler to start group video chats.

User871212y ago

How do these typically compare to Skype or Hangouts in terms of video and sound quality?

1 more reply

chillingeffect12y ago

for those like me :) to whom it's not obvious: how come?

Skype is from Microsoft and Hangouts is from Google, right?!

Thank you for your patience in the face of my utterly stunning cluelessness.

sdfjkl12y ago

High time, if you value privacy (use ZRTP). Or open standards.

gitaarik12y ago

I also don't seem to be able to open some documents in Google drive or have full functionality.

cookiecaper12y ago

Same here, Google Sheets are misbehaving for me but Docs mostly seem ok. Gmail is working.

I'm actually also having problems with Facebook. I loaded up HN to see if others were experiencing the same thing.

mbesto12y ago

I was about to throw my keyboard at the wall because a critical Sheet of mine was failing. Ugh, this is the downside to the cloud...

vinhboy12y ago

Gchat has been down for me for over an hour. I don't ever remember a google service being out for that long.

theg212y ago

So here's something interesting: http://i.imgur.com/5ek8L9X.png

When I send or receive an email, it's exactly 1 hour behind. Wonder if it's related.

sdfjkl12y ago

Most likely just messed up timezones. It's the season for that (we're in the magical 3 week or so period where DST is applied in the US but not yet in Europe).

theg212y ago

That's a valid guess but we're seeing it intermittently in the office which is why I raised it.

valevk12y ago

For a brief moment, just a brief moment, I thought they are shutting them down.

sdfjkl12y ago

While Google does shut down services all the time, they do typically give a few months warning first.

ffreitasalves12y ago

Here in my company we had the same problem and we are using http://practiceconversation.com as alternative, nobody uses this site, so it is nice so far.

passepartout12y ago

To quote Adventure Time's Lemon Grab, "unacceptable"!!

benburton12y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIZbGSXeWWE

oconnor012y ago

Does Google provide a status page for their services?

nodata12y ago

http://www.google.com/appsstatus

officialjunk12y ago

thanks. i've actually never seen this before.

does the status appear as orange semi-circles for anyone else? it looks intentional based on the source, but semi-circles are not in the legend at the bottom. wonder if it's based on how long it's been down, or the number of affected instances or something else...

1 more reply

dcc112y ago

Yes very annoying especially when paying them, also Outlook.com was having issues too :(

and blockchain.info is down too

Rofu200012y ago

About to be the most productive day for me in awhile.

executive12y ago

Where are all the SREs now? Cowering in fear.

kclay12y ago

The Voice page was down shortly as well.

zecho12y ago

I'm able to get forwarded calls but not make calls from the service.

nodata12y ago

Works for me.

coherentpony12y ago

Same.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

38 comments

fidotron12y ago

Or are those Hangouts actually Google Talk and not G+ Hangouts? And how stupid is it that that is something resembling a decent question?

ChikkaChiChi12y ago

Talk is still covered in the SLA, Hangouts is not.

Don't ask me to explain what PHB came up with that logic.

didgeoridoo12y ago

Just got an email from Google on my grandfathered free Apps account encouraging me to upgrade to "ensure 99.9% uptime". Excellent timing, guys.

psbp12y ago

30 minutes out of a year is less than .1%

noise12y ago

Same here. Coincidence? I think not. They even added details about how much Drive data I have, a passive threat that it might not be safe if I don't cough up for the paid account.

rkuykendall-com12y ago

Same: "Get 99.9% guaranteed uptime for Gmail and other business features"

Very poor timing.

casca12y ago

Amusingly, with Hangouts down, Skype video chats have become unusable. Time to move to Jitsi[1]?

[1] https://jitsi.org/

rkuykendall-com12y ago

The nice thing about WebRTC is that video chat services have exploded. I've been using https://appear.in/ lately. It couldn't be simpler to start group video chats.

User871212y ago

How do these typically compare to Skype or Hangouts in terms of video and sound quality?

1 more reply

chillingeffect12y ago

for those like me :) to whom it's not obvious: how come?

Skype is from Microsoft and Hangouts is from Google, right?!

Thank you for your patience in the face of my utterly stunning cluelessness.

sdfjkl12y ago

High time, if you value privacy (use ZRTP). Or open standards.

gitaarik12y ago

I also don't seem to be able to open some documents in Google drive or have full functionality.

cookiecaper12y ago

Same here, Google Sheets are misbehaving for me but Docs mostly seem ok. Gmail is working.

I'm actually also having problems with Facebook. I loaded up HN to see if others were experiencing the same thing.

mbesto12y ago

I was about to throw my keyboard at the wall because a critical Sheet of mine was failing. Ugh, this is the downside to the cloud...

vinhboy12y ago

Gchat has been down for me for over an hour. I don't ever remember a google service being out for that long.

theg212y ago

So here's something interesting: http://i.imgur.com/5ek8L9X.png

When I send or receive an email, it's exactly 1 hour behind. Wonder if it's related.

sdfjkl12y ago

Most likely just messed up timezones. It's the season for that (we're in the magical 3 week or so period where DST is applied in the US but not yet in Europe).

theg212y ago

That's a valid guess but we're seeing it intermittently in the office which is why I raised it.

valevk12y ago

For a brief moment, just a brief moment, I thought they are shutting them down.

sdfjkl12y ago

While Google does shut down services all the time, they do typically give a few months warning first.

ffreitasalves12y ago

Here in my company we had the same problem and we are using http://practiceconversation.com as alternative, nobody uses this site, so it is nice so far.

passepartout12y ago

To quote Adventure Time's Lemon Grab, "unacceptable"!!

benburton12y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIZbGSXeWWE

oconnor012y ago

Does Google provide a status page for their services?

nodata12y ago

http://www.google.com/appsstatus

officialjunk12y ago

thanks. i've actually never seen this before.

1 more reply

dcc112y ago