WhatsApp bug: Users say date changed to '1 Jan 1970'

KARACHI: The world’s most-used messaging app, WhatsApp, is once again in the news due to a bug that has confused the users.

The glitch was also reported on Facebook in Pakistan as the recent posts appeared as shared on Jan 1970.

The images shared by WhatsApp users on multiple Facebook pages show they received missed voice/video calls on “1 Jan 1970” and wondered why this is happening.

“Does anyone know why is this happening in WhatsApp calling?? It’s been the second time that date appeared in two different chats,” one user posted in a Facebook tech group.

Another responded to it, saying that WhatsApp is aware of the issue and it is a “Linux bug based on epoch time”.

In another tech forum, a WhatsApp response was shared in which the messaging app said it was aware of the issue and “working on fixing it in a future update”.

However, there is no statement from Facebook, which also owns WhatsApp, over the matter putting the users in a jeopardy regarding the security of their data.

This is not the first time that Facebook experienced a timestamp glitch. In 2015, the social media giant faced a similar problem when its users were sent notifications regarding friendships.

According to a Gizmodo report, it was s most likely due to an issue with Unix time, also known as Epoch time.

This system counts the number of seconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970, so there’s a good chance that an error might’ve restarted the clock on this particular Facebook feature. (That’s almost exactly 46 years ago.)