When Apple’s iMessage/FaceTime service went down today, I learned that Apple has a “Services Status” page. How did I not know about this? I feel so out-of-the-loop.

Maybe I’m the only person that didn’t know Apple has a “Services Status” page. But on the off chance that I’m not, I think it’s worth mentioning since it’s useful info.

If you point your web browser to apple.com/support/systemstatus, you’ll find a convenient list of almost three dozen online services (like iCloud) and online stores that Apple runs. Beside each item on the list is a color-coded icon showing whether or not it’s running normally, or if there’s some kind of issue. Unfortunately, in typical Apple style, that’s all the details they provide, so don’t hold out hope for any explanations about what’s causing an outage or estimates on when it might be back up.

Still, today I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering if I was having a problem with iMessage on my end, or if it was a problem on Apple’s end. It’s nice to know that there’s somewhere to look to find that answer.