Elon Musk responds to Signal's global outage tweet after millions of new sign-ups

Just days after millions of new sign-ups, messaging app ‘Signal’ on January 15 experienced a mass outage due to technical difficulties. “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,” the app wrote on its official Twitter handle, following Elon Musk’s recommendation to use the app. “Millions upon millions of new users are sending a message that privacy matters. We appreciate your patience,” the app said, adding that its technical teams were “working hard” to fix the issues. In response to the tweet, SpaceX and Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk wrote, “Your server-side code is doing too much.” 

“Use Signal,” the Tesla Inc. and SpaceX’s chief executive officer (CEO) wrote on Twitter on Jan. 7, which prompted millions of users to switch their accounts from WhatsApp to Signal over privacy concerns. With a large number of internet users signing to the encrypted messaging app Signal, the phone number verifications were delayed, and the non-profit Signal Foundation wrote on Twitter, “Verification codes are currently delayed across several providers because so many new people are trying to join Signal right now, we can barely register our excitement.” The tech firm added, “We are working with carriers to resolve this as quickly as possible.” 

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Read: Signal App Servers Down After Record Spike In Downloads, WhatsApp Delays Privacy Update

Massive boost in downloads

Just days into the glitches related to the OTP verification, the cross-platform messaging app Signal crashed on January 15, causing a global outage as users complained that they were unable to use the app across both cellphone and computers. The company wrote, that it was "working hard to restore service as quickly as possible.” 

Signal experienced a massive boost in downloads after Facebook-owned WhatsApp updated its terms of service user agreement seeking permission from customers to share their data with Facebook. This led the Whtsapp users to move to the privacy-focused messaging app Signal, which recorded approximately 7.5 million downloads on the apple store and Google Play store between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10 after Musk recommended it, according to the data published by Sensor Tower. 

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