Signal recently rose to fame in the wake of WhatsApp"s privacy fiasco. Following WhatApp"s privacy policy changes that would give Facebook and other companies access to its user data, Signal revealed a spike in new user registrations.
However, the messaging service may not have braced for the influx of new users. Signal confirmed today that it is having technical difficulties. It made the announcement on Twitter and promised that a fix is underway.
Signal is experiencing technical difficulties. We are working hard to restore service as quickly as possible.
— Signal (@signalapp) January 15, 2021
The issue is preventing users from sending messages at the moment. It"s not clear yet what caused the outage or whether it is related solely to the surge in demand. Signal only said: "We have been adding new servers and extra capacity at a record pace every single day this week nonstop, but today exceeded even our most optimistic projections".
There"s no word as well on how many users have been affected, but the number could go up seeing as more people are downloading Signal"s app. As of January 12, its download counter on the Play Store indicated an increase in user base from 10 million to 50 million installs on that same day. For now, Signal is working to restore the service.