A high-level communication blunder involving senior officials in the Trump administration has triggered a wave of interest in the encrypted messaging app Signal, making this past week the platform’s most significant moment of US growth since it launched nearly eleven years ago.
The unexpected spike followed reports that top cabinet members had used Signal to coordinate a military operation targeting Yemen — only to mistakenly include The Atlantic’s editor in chief in their private group chat. That error set off a political firestorm and intense media scrutiny, but it also vaulted Signal into the national spotlight, fueling record-breaking user adoption in the United States.
More: How to Fix the Signal Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
Jun Harada, who leads growth and partnerships at Signal, said the response has been overwhelming. “In Signal’s history, this is the largest US-growth moment by a massive margin,” Harada told Wired. “It’s mind-blowing, even on our side.”
Though he declined to share exact figures, Harada confirmed that Signal’s cumulative downloads remain in the hundreds of millions. He also noted that this week’s surge has doubled the typical adoption rate seen earlier in 2025, which was already significantly higher than the same period last year. “It happened immediately” after The Atlantic’s report, Harada explained. “And it’s been sustained. We’ve been maintaining that rate every day.”
Independent data from the analytics firm Sensor Tower supports Signal’s internal findings. According to their analysis, downloads in the US rose 105 percent compared to the previous week and 150 percent over a typical week in 2024. By contrast, downloads outside the US climbed by just 21 percent, indicating the uniquely domestic impact of the incident.
Signal is widely considered one of the most secure messaging platforms available due to its use of advanced cryptographic protocols and its strong stance on privacy. Unlike traditional messaging platforms, even Signal itself cannot access the messages transmitted through its service. This level of protection gives users confidence that their communications remain private and tamper-proof.
Signal is also open source, meaning its code is publicly available for anyone to inspect, audit, and improve.
While Signal is secure, users should make sure they’re using it correctly to prevent any blunders.
Get our guide on that here.
