Signal Foundation had probably the best New year in the world currently. After the infamous tweet by Elon Musk, Signal has been growing exponentially as to a level where they are not able to manage to scale up for the new users signing up every single day.
Also, the timing of WhatsApp new Policy was so apt for millions across the world to be angry at the company and jump ships.
Is it just you or everyone else?
Since people are facing issues in Signal, there might be many remedies of quick fixes that could be applied to make sure you have a smooth functioning of the application. First question you need to ask is whether is it just you or someone else is facing that issue. If others are facing it too, then you are lucky because its just a matter of waiting until Signal manages to fix it as soon as possible.
So, how to figure out if its not just you? If you have anyone nearby who uses Signal, you could ask them. If you don’t have any, go to Twitter and Signal’s official twitter handle. Any signs of an outage, the company makes it a practice to update on Twitter immediately. So, you can be sure of the outage.
Possible fixes if Signal isn’t working
These are some of the possible fixes you could apply to make sure Signal is working on your phone. Since the inception of Elon’s tweet, people have been facing issues mainly because of the scaling that’s been done to facilitiate the millions of people who are moving to use the app.
Disable VPN
This is an easy one. Signal works based on the country you are based in. So, its natural to think that they would be concerned if you are using a VPN service. If your VPN request country and the phone number you have used to register to signal, then obviously the app would have a problem letting you use the application.
You can either disable VPN or whitelist signal in the VPN service you are using to make sure Signal is working.
Check Background Permissions
Whether you are using Android or iOS, Signal app requires you to have background App refresh or activity running because instant messaging needs to work even if your phone is locked only then you will received messages as notifications. So, make sure background permissions ar enabled for both Android and iOS operating systems.
Update to the latest version
Since fixes on the client side often to make sure its working smoothly, it essential to update your app irrespective of its platform tentatively. So, update your Android and iOS app in the phone regularly to make sure you get the latest features and bug fixes especially.
You can go to App Store if you are using an iOS device or Play Store if you are using an Android device.
Low Power Mode
This is directly connected to Background App Refresh. When you put your phone in Low power mode, it means that you are putting into place any effort to save some battery life. Phone manufacturers disable background app refresh to save battery because it means you phone does very little work when its locked or unused. In that case, Signal might not work effectively and you might want to disable Low power mode.
Restart your device
This is a basic troubleshooting step. This might help if the app is stuck and even after closing and reopening the app, it still is not working well. You can restart the app and it basically an unplug and replug to make sure that it works.
Restart actually makes sure the Android or iOS operating systems are refreshed from the bootup. This can help you make sure the app stuck issue sorted and things start working effectively.
Remove and reinstall the app
This must be step before the last resort if nothing above works. Remove the app and reinstall it from the app store. This will help you fix the previous issues and get the newest version of the app from the App or Play Store.
A reinstall is a clean state of work and it should clear any issue with update or installation issues.
Signal Support System
As I said in the step before, contact the signal support system is the last resort. This comes in handly most if its an issue with your profile or registration of your account.
Link: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us
They must be able to help in with any issue connected with.
I hope these issue help you with the issues you are facing with the signal app. I know it can be frustrating at times but I think its worth giving the Signal Foundation a chance since they are trying to prioritize Privacy more than anything. I like that its non-profit and its a group of people standing up against the tech giants.
You can also try these interesting Signal posts:
1. Is it Possible to Hack A Signal Account?
2. Add Custom Wallpaper on Signal
3. Signal app on Apple Watch, is possible?
4. Fix – Signal App not working
5. Use Signal App on PC
6. Delete Your Signal Account Permanently
7. Change Signal App Notification Sound
8. Send Animated Stickers on Signal
