Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Signal Is Down Globally, COO Confirms This Is Due Huge Influx of Users

Signal Is Down Now, Because of Millions of New Users Joining

Signal has seen millions of new users joining up in the last week.

Signal is facing an outage globally — thousands of users are reporting errors to site status tracker DownDetector, and Gadgets 360 confirmed this for ourselves as well. Although you can open the app and send messages, nothing is actually being delivered right now. The issues seem to have started about one hour ago at 8.30pm IST on Friday, and appears to be a global outage.

[Update 11.50pm, January 15 - Signal has sent Gadgets 360 a message with the following statement from its COO Aruna Harder: "We have been adding new servers and extra capacity at a record pace every single day this week, but today exceeded even our most optimistic projections. Millions upon millions of new users are sending a message that privacy matters, and we are working hard to restore service for them as quickly as possible."]

If you open Signal right now, you will see a new banner which explains that the app is facing some technical difficulties, although there are no additional details in the banner as of now. However, it does say that the team is working to restore service as quickly as possible.



The company has now confirmed that the issue has to do with the huge number of users who have been signing on to Signal, as people are moving away from WhatsApp in droves after it announced a new privacy policy, and said that if users did not accept, then their accounts would have to be removed. Signal was downloaded by 17.8 million users over the past seven days, a 62-fold rise from the prior week. Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp before selling it to Facebook and then co-founding the Signal Foundation, said that the expansion in recent days had been "vertical".

India is one of the markets where Signal has added a huge number of new users, so it's not surprising that Acton said in an interview with NDTV, "what's really awesome is India is such a strong representation of the world that if you build for India you build for the world."

WhatsApp announced its policy changes on January 6, where it more clearly talked about data sharing with Facebook, and also gave users no choice about this. The company would later clarify that the latest change didn't affect the privacy of messages sent to friends and family in any way, and was aimed at business accounts. However, this, along with the App Store showing privacy information for different apps made people worry about how safe it was to use WhatsApp.



Both Signal and Telegram have seen a huge influx of users as a result, with Signal becoming the number one messaging app in many markets. A tweet by Signal CEO Moxie Marlinspike from earlier in the week had noted that the entire small non-profit team at Signal was working late nights and weekends to keep Signal running.

Signal's Acton also said the company was working to improve its video and group chat functions, allowing it to compete better with WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, and other conferencing apps that have become vital to day-to-day life over the past year. Signal is looking to hire more staff as it seeks to bolster the service and supporting infrastructure, he added on Wednesday.


AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×