We have talked countless times about how WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging app there is, with millions of files, messages, URLs, videos, and images shared on almost a daily basis. However, based on a recent discovery, there is an entirely harmless URL that is causing the app to go in an endless crashing loop, and honestly, it gets even more hilarious when you find out what the URL actually is.

Sending a simple, generic URL to someone on WhatsApp causes the app to crash again and again

So, what exactly is the bug? Well, it was spotted by Brute Bee on Twitter, and since then, I tested it on my Galaxy S22 Ultra, running WhatsApp version 2.23.10.77. When you send the URL wa.me/settings, it causes the app to go into a crash loop. Sadly, the problem only exists in the Android version of the app since I tested it out on a friend's iPhone, and it worked without any issues. I cannot confirm if the issue persists in older versions of the app.

So, what is happening here? Well, the URL is not messed up. The URL normally redirects the person to go to WhatsApp settings. However, in the recent case, it is causing the app to crash endlessly. Upon restarting, you can use the app usually, but the moment you access the chat once again, it ends up crashing, and as you may have guessed, the crashing happens as many times as you access the chat. This issue does not influence how other chats work, so you can still access those.

While it does sound like an annoying bug, if you want to stop people from sending messages to you, send this URL to them, and they won't be able to open your chat and send you the message. However, considering how WhatsApp Web is unaffected, and the same goes for the desktop app, you can use those to send messages and delete this message, and things will go back to normal.

Meta will be fixing the bug pretty soon, however, so we shouldn't be surprised. And if you haven't been up to date, this is not the first time a Meta-owned app is running into a weird bug. Previously, the Facebook app started automatically sending friend requests to people every time you would visit their profile, and now, WhatsApp is apparently crashing because of a URL that actually leads to its own settings. If you are facing this, simply go to the affected chat on the web version, delete the message, and you should be good to go.