Updated January 24 @ 10:09 a.m. PT: As of around 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET, Slack appears to be back up and running like normal. Carry on!
If you rely on Slack to communicate at your job and are having issues with the app, you aren’t alone. At 8:37 a.m. PT / 11:37 a.m. ET, Slack confirmed that it’s down and experiencing “service wide connection issues.”
Prior to Slack’s confirmation, Down Detector saw a huge spike in reports of Slack experiencing connection issues. There was a smaller spike around 5:00 p.m. ET yesterday afternoon, with a much larger spike starting at around 11:00 a.m. ET today.
Per the Slack Status website, Slack has identified “Connections” and “Workflows” issues. For both of them, Slack says, “Some customers are encountering issues connecting and running workflows Slack.”
Slack also confirms that it’s “actively looking into this” and will “report back as more information becomes available.”
In other words, if you’re having trouble logging into or using Slack this morning, this is why. It’s unclear when Slack will have things back up and running, but we’ll keep an eye out for any updates and let you know when things are back to normal.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.
Apple's next cheaper iPhone could get a brand-new processor while keeping its most stubborn display compromise. Digital Chat Station tips the iPhone 18e for a 2027 release with a 2nm A20 chip and a 6.12-inch OLED screen still limited to 60Hz.
The rumored camera setup includes a single 48MP rear camera and a possible 24MP selfie camera. There's new hardware to consider, but buyers hoping Apple would extend that upgrade generosity to smoother scrolling could be disappointed.