Signal is down right now because everyone is moving in from WhatsApp

What you need to know

• Signal is facing server issues due to a rapid increase in user activity.
• The company is currently working to increase its server capacity and fix the problem.
• Many disgruntled WhatsApp users are switching to Signal and Telegram over privacy matters.

WhatsApp has dug itself into a hole, thanks to Facebook's recent announcement about how users of one of the best messaging apps will be required to share their information with the social media platform. Users did not take kindly to that, and since the announcement, swaths of WhatsApp users have left the app and are taking their chats to Telegram and Signal. While millions of new users may sound fine and dandy, the companies now have to deal with a sudden spike of user-activity, and it's causing outages.

Users of Signal's messaging app may notice that the app is currently experiencing server issues. Apparently, it has been down since this morning, around 10 am ET, and Signal has been working to fix the issue. The company stated in a tweet that while it has been working to add more server capacity, "today exceeded even our most optimistic projections."

That was the most recent update from Signal, which came in just after 4 pm ET, so it seems like things are beginning to come back online. Hopefully, those at Signal can get things fully up-and-running for the millions of new users that are relying on it for messaging, else make the move to Telegram.

For those of you considering transitioning away from WhatsApp, we have a helpful guide on how to move your group chats from Whatsapp to Signal, which may be helpful once the app is back in working condition.