The 9 weirdest things that happened during Amazon’s huge AWS outage
If you own a smartphone or are familiar with the Internet, you may have noticed that things weren’t quite right yesterday: a massive AWS outage took down the hundreds of services that depend on its cloud computing infrastructure, and suddenly the digital world felt like it was made of jelly.
The impacts have been severe and global, affecting more than 1,000 businesses according to Downdetector. But what were the weirdest issues and unexpected consequences of the biggest Amazon Web Services outage we’ve seen in years?
To help take some relief from DNS-related error messages and nightmares, we’ve rounded up some of the weirdest (important and frivolous) consequences of the biggest IT crisis since Crowdstrike crashed the world’s business computers in 2024…
1. Slack users were trapped in endless huddles
One of our favorite phrases during the AWS outage was from Slack “Trouble with huddles”, which sounds like an album of The National but instead described a computer incident that affected the audio function of the messaging platform.
As spotted by The Verge, a Slack status update during the AWS outage stated that “we are currently investigating an issue where some users are getting stuck in a group after trying to leave.”
Being stuck in a group wouldn’t typically be considered an unpleasant experience, but it’s slightly worse in the context of Slack – given that it means being stuck in an audio call with a work colleague you can’t leave.
Unfortunately, the issue isn’t fully resolved yet, with Slack saying today that it’s continuing to “work to clean up any groups that are in bad shape.” The AWS outage at least showed that computer language can sometimes be unintentionally poetic.
2. The Premier League has lost its virtual referees
Offside lines were drawn for the first time this season to rule out Thiago’s second goal for Brentford ❌There is no semi-automated offside technology available today due to the AWS outage 👀 pic.twitter.com/7vxv6fZ3CEOctober 20, 2025
Even Premier League football was not safe from the AWS outage. There was no old-fashioned floodlight failure or ticket fiasco, but the problems ruled out semi-automatic offside technology during Monday night’s match between West Ham and Brentford.
Unfortunately, as Sky Sports noted above, this meant officials had to bring out their much-maligned managers again to see whether Brentford’s second goal was offside or not. The human assistants ruled it was offside, which predictably caused outrage online.
Semi-Automated Offside technology is run by a company called Genius Sports, which recently migrated its infrastructure to a generally safe pair of hands called Amazon Web Services. Unfortunately, this week AWS scored the equivalent of a huge own goal.
An outage hitting the Amazon.com homepage is rare, but we now know what to expect in an outage: lots of dog photos.
At the height of the AWS outage, Amazon’s homepage was among the victims, which left many people unable to view their order history – and thousands of people also encountered the error screen above.
We’re usually not fans of the two error pages, but we liked this one: Amazon’s page features a number of different dog photos, all of which belong to Amazon employees.
A staggering 15,000 dogs are registered to work in Amazon offices and you may encounter more away from the website’s boring error pages. Amazon’s Meet the Dogs page.
4. Starbucks fans were burned by the experience
You’d think the coffee world would be relatively safe from DNS outages, but no: the AWS outage even affected the fragile lives, on Monday morning, of Starbucks fans who discovered their mobile app was out of order.
In perhaps the best example of a first world problem yet, this meant that Starbucks customers had to go to their local branch and order their coffee in person, just like the good old days.
The Starbucks app is down and now I have to go in and order like a peasant.October 20, 2025
Fortunately, the Starbucks outage only lasted a few hours, a relatively mild punishment compared to the several hours of meme deprivation experienced by Snapchat users.
Others found comfort in a collective AWS experience shared in coffee shops, with some on Threads describing the formation of a “circle of empathy” for those involved. After all, this was an internet outage best shared with others.
5. Wordle and Duolingo fans threatened to revolt
PSA: your sequences will be saved! thank you for your patience 💚🔥 #awsoutage pic.twitter.com/tYvfLwzikJOctober 20, 2025
If we didn’t already know that the internet takes its puns seriously, the AWS outage confirmed that it’s a life-and-death experience for many.
Panic set in among Wordle fans who apparently lost their daily streak due to the issues. The New York Times hosts the puzzle game, and it was hit pretty hard during the outage, leaving many wondering if they’d be able to log back in before the midnight deadline for that day’s puzzle.
If you think YOU are having a bad Monday, the #AWS outage means my 210 day #Wordle streak is gone!October 20, 2025
Fortunately for many, Wordle has apparently restored the footage lost to the AWS outage, which was probably wise given that Halloween would be hard-pressed to match a spectacle as terrifying as a horde of furious Wordle fans wielding pitchforks.
That said, another group rivaled Wordle fans for their fury over the AWS outage. Some Duolingo fans threatened to “riot” if their footage was lost, but the language learning app moved quickly to reassure them, confirming in an X post that “your footage will be saved.” Phew.
Our only question now is who would you want by your side during a zombie apocalypse, Duolingo or Wordle fans?
6. Airline passengers lost check-in information and seat reservations
Echoing the carnage at the airport that we witnessed during the Great crowd crisis of 2024, yesterday’s AWS outage also created huge confusion for airline passengers.
As CNBC reported, some Delta and United passengers saw their reservations and seat assignments disappear, while also finding they couldn’t check in for flights.
With United’s systems struggling with the AWS outage, long lines and nightmarish check-ins were reported at airports across the United States.
Fortunately, big delays were avoided, but it once again left many people wondering why these critical systems are still so fragile and overly dependent on a handful of tech companies.
7. Even school exams have been delayed
For some, the AWS outage was actually good news. Many students and teachers in the United States use Canvas, an online educational aid that hosts lessons, assignments, and course information.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your situation), Canvas was hit hard by the AWS outage, which lasted over 12 hours. Some students saw this as a boon, writing on Reddit that “my midterms are inaccessible” and that they were having a “great day.”
Canvas is now back online, although the platform’s creator, Instructure, warned earlier that “some users may experience slowness or timeout errors.” All of this is a timely reminder for those of us who remember when essays and exams were a pen-and-paper experience, that school is a little different now.
8. Bank transfers have disappeared into the ether
Some of the most severe impacts of the AWS outage hit banks and mobile payment apps like Venmo.
On Venmo, many were having trouble sending and receiving payments, causing untold stress for many trying to, for example, pay for a wedding.
Many banks in the UK, such as Lloyds and the Bank of Scotland, have also been closed, and the BBC even reported the case of a person who was missing £50 after transferring money to their partner.
The bank said it was trying to resolve the issue “as quickly as possible”, which is worrying. But with other platforms like Coinbase (the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States) and trading app Robinhood also hit by the AWS curse, it’s yet another reminder that today’s price of financial convenience is a serious panic attack when things go wrong.
9. People discovered they loved “Internet snow days.”
The AWS outage was, for many, an extremely frustrating experience that also cost businesses an estimated $75 million per hour, according to a Tenscope study.
But for those who didn’t have crucial tasks relying on Amazon’s cloud infrastructure, it was a reminder that actually, life can be better with a little less internet — and that maybe we don’t need to build our lives so religiously around our favorite apps and services.
Of course, the 21st century world quickly collapsed again as AWS returned to full health, but the outage is a timely reminder that our modern Internet can be destroyed by very old mistakes.
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