Encrypted messaging app Sign continues to see spiking downloads within the wake of the messaging scandal that noticed The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg added to a bunch chat the place high-ranking officers within the Trump administration had been discussing an assault on Houthi rebels in Yemen. The ensuing press protection across the leak of those delicate plans has been driving extra individuals to take a look at Sign’s app for the primary time, resulting in a doubling of its downloads.
In line with app intelligence supplier Appfigures, downloads rose by 26% on the day the information broke, a sign that customers had been curious concerning the app being utilized by members of the Trump administration. The following day, downloads jumped to 193,000 and by Wednesday hit an all-time excessive of 195,000, the agency famous.
By comparability, Sign usually sees a mean of 95,000 downloads on a mean day.
Appfigures has been monitoring the affect of the scandal on Sign’s app from day one. It earlier discovered that Sign app downloads throughout iOS and Google Play had jumped up 28% on the Monday when the information initially broke, with U.S. downloads up by 45% and downloads in Yemen up by 42%.
The Trump administration has dismissed the seriousness of the incident, the place The Atlantic journalist was unintentionally added to a bunch chat between officers.
Though Secretary of Protection Peter Hegseth, who was within the chat with VP J.D. Vance and others, denied that “war plans” had been shared via the encrypted chat app, The Atlantic later revealed the total message threads which confirmed officers discussing the time, location, and weapons the U.S. would use within the assault. Trump has since taken to attacking the media for its continued protection of the incident.
Sign’s app itself was not compromised to permit for this leak. As a substitute, the journalist was accidently added to the thread. Nationwide Safety Adviser Michael Waltz has accepted accountability for making the group chat within the first place however has deflected blame over the embarrassing mistake.
Appfigures chalks up the doubling of downloads to the outdated adage “all press is good press,” because the scandal elevated Sign’s visibility and certain launched the app to 1000’s of customers for the primary time.
