If you woke up today wondering why your favorite apps, websites, and even smart devices weren’t working, you’re not alone. Millions of users across the globe were asking the same question: “What time was the AWS outage?”
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing backbone of much of the internet, suffered a major disruption that rippled across countless platforms — from Snapchat and Venmo to Alexa, Ring, and even games like Fortnite and Pokémon GO. This wasn’t just a minor slowdown; it was a widespread digital breakdown that highlighted how deeply our online world depends on AWS.
Here’s a complete timeline of what happened, what caused it, and how Amazon worked to bring the internet back to life.
What Time Was the AWS Outage? The Full Timeline
12:11 AM PDT (3:11 AM ET / 8:11 AM BST) — The Outage Begins
At around 12:11 AM Pacific Time, AWS started experiencing a major outage. Within minutes, hundreds of websites and digital services went down.
Reports began flooding in from users across the U.S., the U.K., and beyond — unable to access popular apps such as Snapchat, Venmo, and Ring, as well as Amazon’s own services like Alexa and Prime Video. Even major online games like Fortnite and Pokémon GO were impacted.
Because AWS powers the infrastructure of so many businesses, this wasn’t just a problem for Amazon — it was an internet-wide disruption.
1:26 AM PDT (4:26 AM ET / 9:26 AM BST) — The Problem Is Diagnosed
Roughly an hour later, at 1:26 AM PDT, AWS engineers officially diagnosed the issue as a major failure involving DynamoDB, one of Amazon’s key internal systems.
DynamoDB functions as a kind of digital phonebook for the internet, managing vast amounts of structured data that many applications rely on to function. When DynamoDB goes down, it can cause a massive chain reaction — which is exactly what happened here.
2:01 AM PDT (5:01 AM ET / 10:01 AM BST) — Work on a Fix Begins
By 2:01 AM PDT, Amazon’s technical team had identified the specific root cause of the issue and immediately began implementing a fix.
At this point, services like Alexa, Prime Video, and Ring were either completely offline or severely degraded. Many third-party platforms that depend on AWS were also reporting total service failures.
2:22 AM PDT (5:22 AM ET / 10:22 AM BST) — Fix Deployed, Recovery Begins
The first wave of fixes was successfully deployed at 2:22 AM PDT. Slowly but surely, some systems started to recover.
Users noticed that Alexa and Ring began functioning again, although many still experienced slow performance and intermittent errors. It looked like progress was being made — but the problem was far from over.
3:00–4:00 AM PDT — Reddit Joins the List of Downed Sites
Just as things were improving, new problems appeared. Reddit, one of the largest community platforms online, went down.
AWS posted an update acknowledging a “backlog of issues” that needed to be processed as part of the recovery effort. This backlog meant that even though the core issue was fixed, many dependent systems were still struggling to get back online.
4:48 AM PDT (7:48 AM ET / 12:48 PM BST) — Ongoing Fixes, More Services Down
By 4:48 AM PDT, Amazon confirmed that additional fixes were being rolled out, but problems persisted.
Ring and Chime — both owned by Amazon — were still facing significant outages. Customers reported issues accessing security camera feeds, video calls, and other essential cloud-based functions.
This was one of the longest stretches of sustained disruption AWS had experienced in months, and it was clear the recovery process would take time.
5:48 AM PDT (8:48 AM ET / 1:48 PM BST) — Wordle and Snapchat Affected
At 5:48 AM PDT, AWS engineers deployed additional patches to stabilize affected systems. However, as soon as one issue was fixed, another emerged.
It became an almost “whack-a-mole” situation: Wordle went offline, Snapchat users began reporting connection errors again, and AWS’s own outage tracker showed reports creeping back up.
While many critical business systems were beginning to stabilize, some consumer-facing apps were still in the red zone.
9:15 AM PDT (11:15 AM ET / 4:15 PM BST) — Venmo Outage and Ongoing Investigation
By 9:15 AM PDT, the situation took another turn when Venmo, a leading payment app, experienced a surge in outage reports.
This came shortly after AWS released a statement confirming that the team was still investigating the root cause and working on full mitigation. Although some systems had returned to normal, the underlying issues were still not fully resolved.
At this stage, many users could access some apps again, but performance remained inconsistent — a clear sign that AWS was still working through the aftermath.
The Root Cause: A DynamoDB Failure
While AWS hasn’t released every technical detail, the outage was linked to DynamoDB, Amazon’s NoSQL database service.
DynamoDB serves as the foundation for countless applications, managing user data, login credentials, transactions, and more. When a problem arises at the DynamoDB endpoint, apps can’t properly retrieve or write data — leading to massive, cascading outages.
This wasn’t a cyberattack or a security breach — it was a technical failure deep within Amazon’s own infrastructure. The complexity and scale of AWS made diagnosing and resolving the issue particularly challenging.
The Impact: When AWS Sneezes, the Internet Catches a Cold
The AWS outage once again highlighted how dependent the world has become on a handful of cloud service providers.
From Snapchat and Venmo to Ring, Chime, Reddit, and Wordle, the incident affected millions of users worldwide. Businesses lost sales, communication tools went silent, and even simple daily tasks — like checking a doorbell feed or sending money — became impossible for several hours.
What Amazon Is Doing to Prevent Future Outages
AWS has one of the strongest uptime records in the cloud industry, but this incident shows that no system is immune to failure.
Amazon’s post-incident analysis will likely include:
- Improved redundancy for DynamoDB endpoints
- More robust monitoring systems to detect issues faster
- Better regional isolation to prevent one failure from spreading across multiple zones
AWS continuously updates its infrastructure to improve reliability, but as this event proved, even small errors can have massive ripple effects.
Final Thoughts
So, what time was the AWS outage? It began at 12:11 AM PDT (3:11 AM ET / 8:11 AM BST) and unfolded throughout the early morning, with major disruptions lasting until around 9:15 AM PDT.
From DynamoDB failures to rolling app disruptions, the incident revealed just how interconnected — and fragile — our online systems can be.
While AWS has since stabilized its systems, the outage serves as a wake-up call for businesses that depend entirely on one cloud provider. For everyday users, it’s a reminder that even the biggest names in tech can have bad days online.
The next time your favorite app stops working, it might not be your phone or Wi-Fi — it might just be AWS, the invisible engine of the internet, catching its breath.
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