Apple's iMessage Returns After Service Outage

UPDATE: iMessage is back online after being down for a few hours.

EARLIER: Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone, but Apple's iMessage is down right now.

Several users have reported problems sending iMessages and $4 page says the service is experiencing issues.

FaceTime, the video chat feature on iPhones and iPads, is also down.

If you're trying to send messages to friends, the best thing to do is send them as a regular text message for now. Just press and hold the speech bubble with your text and select "send as SMS."