Is iMessage Down? Is iCloud Down? How to Check Apple Services Status
Many Apple device owners depend heavily on iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, Apple ID, Siri, the App Stores, and the other myriad of Apple online services for their Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple TV to work as intended, whether it’s backing up to iCloud or sending messages to friends and families, using iTunes, or logging into the online stores, or authenticating an Apple ID. Thus, it’s not too surprising that potential downtime or issues with these Apple services can lead to user problems, with various error messages and failures to perform otherwise simple tasks. While sometimes issues with such services are user created, other times the problems are on Apple’s end, and so for troubleshooting purposes it can be very helpful to quickly find out if Apple services are online or if they down.
How to Check if Apple Services Are Down or Up
Rather than wondering if a particular service is working or not, you can check directly with Apple with a simple status overview board. Here is how any user can quickly check to see if iMessage, iCloud, iTunes, Siri and any other Apple online service is down and offline, or up and online as intended:
- Open a web browser on any device if you haven’t done so already, it does not need to be a Mac or iOS device, it can be Windows or Android too
- Click here to check the Apple Support System Status Page official web page, this is the official Apple status board for every one of their online services
- Locate the service(s) name you are looking to see if they are up or down based on color
Do you see green next to the service name(s) you want to check? Then the service is working as intended, it is up and functioning.
Do you see red, yellow, or orange next to the service name(s) you are checking? If you see anything other than green, the service is likely disrupted, down, or not functioning as intended, thus you may be encountering service disruption issues.
Here is what the Apple System Service Status webpage looks like when everything is online and working as intended:
Every customer facing Apple online service is shown on the status board page, including each of the following Apple services:
App Store
iCloud Backup
iTunes Store
Apple ID
iCloud Bookmarks & Tabs
iTunes U
Apple Music
iCloud Calendar
iWork for iCloud
Apple Online Store
iCloud Contacts
Mac App Store
Apple Pay
iCloud Drive
Mail Drop
Apple TV
iCloud Keychain
Maps
Back to My Mac
iCloud Mail
News
Beats 1
iCloud Notes
OS X Software Update
Dictation
iCloud Reminders
Photo Print Products
Documents in the Cloud
iCloud Storage Upgrades
Photos
FaceTime
iCloud Web Apps (iCloud.com)
Radio
Find My Friends
iMessage
Siri
Find My iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac
iMovie Theater
SMS Text Forwarding
Game Center
iOS Device Activation
Spotlight suggestions
iBooks Store
iPhone Calls to iPad and Mac
Volume Purchase Program
iChat
iTunes in the Cloud
iCloud Account & Sign In
iTunes Match
This can be invaluable for troubleshooting purposes, because if everything on the Apple System Status switchboard is showing as online and green but a user is still experiencing problems with a particular service, it suggests the issue is not with Apple but with the device trying to connect to the Apple service. Common solutions to simple connectivity issues are rebooting an iOS device, force rebooting a Mac, disconnecting and reconnecting from the internet service (wi-fi or otherwise) by toggling the service off and on again, checking the router / gateway, checking that the internet connection is working in general, and, sometimes, installing software updates that may be lingering around for compatibility. There are many possible reasons that a device may not be connecting to an Apple service, but usually those simple tricks will resolve the problem as long as the Apple service is actually online and working as intended.
So, when in doubt, just load up the Apple System Status webpage and check yourself, no need to ask if iCloud is down or if iMessage is not working, you can find out quickly yourself directly from Apple.
My iMessage is not working can anyone tell me why
The page opens, there is a table – but it is empty! It shows the correct time, CET, but that is it….
I find that status page to be primarily fiction. Services are often down, sometimes for long periods, and it is not reflected on the status page. Often there is even acknowledgement from other sources within Apple that a service is down — but the status page will be steadily green.
Actually that service page is a complete nonsense. It’s always green. Some time ago, the Mac App Store was down for a longer period. It started to became annoying. (After all I want everything my way, right away! :-)
Anyway, went to that page, and it showed everything in green. So I don’t think that’s a reliable indication. It’s more for “soul soothing” purposes :-)
This thing is putting the smileys to the wrong place! I put them at the end of the sentences and for some reason they show up in the middle.
Many thanks for the info. I didn’t know anything about this webpage at all
You’re welcome! It’s a good link to bookmark. It can be invaluable for troubleshooting, I can’t tell you how many times I have had people ask me if iCloud is down or if iMessage is down, only to have a local issue with their device, and vice versa, where they think iCloud isn’t working on their iPhone but in fact the iCloud service was down. Generally speaking Apple services are very reliable and are rarely down, but sometimes it happens, it’s the nature of the internet, things may go offline for maintenance or for unforeseen circumstances!