Signal recently grew to popularity amidst the WhatsApp privacy policy crisis. (Image Source: Bloomberg) Signal, the messaging app which as steadily been gaining new users, appears to be down. Many users are unable to send messages to their contacts.
“Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore services as quickly as possible,” said a red banner on top of the app as Indian Express tried to send out a few messages. It remains to be seen how long Signal takes to rectify the issue. We will update this article as soon as services resume on the app.
Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore service as quickly as possible.
— Signal (@signalapp) January 15, 2021
Signal, a privacy-focused instant messaging app, recently rose to quick popularity as thousands of WhatsApp users migrated to the app. Signal’s focus on privacy and encryption continues to attract a lot of users to the platform, making it the most downloaded free app in many regions across the world including India.
The sudden growth in Signal’s userbase at a time when WhatsApp is facing flak for its recently implemented privacy policy is likely the cause of the servers going down. Many instant messaging apps, including WhatsApp, have faced similar instances occasionally. While some users aren’t happy with the servers being down, others have also taken the app’s server overload as a positive sign pointing to more people using Signal. Check out the tweets below
Facing this issue pic.twitter.com/YHnZMoN6m2
— Rohit Choudhary (@rohit_badhala) January 15, 2021
If you’re wondering why signal is down, might have something to do with their installs increasing from 10 million to 50 million since jan 12 https://t.co/7PCwnp1uel
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 15, 2021
So happy to see signal getting a lot of new users. These problems are temporary. Your privacy though, should be forever. Use signal, tell your friends too. https://t.co/RhyIMsX2Kk
— Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (@brokep) January 15, 2021
Signal and Telegram continue to be two of the most popular instant messaging apps in use right now. Signal includes privacy-focused features like relaying voice calls, end-to-end encryption, screenshot protection and more. The app recently also announced that it plans to hire more people following the sudden rise in users.
