Why am I seeing this banner on my linked device?
Your account falls into an unconventional and rare category:
- Your account’s primary device (the Android or iOS device that you originally used to register for Signal) hasn't been updated and hasn't connected to the Signal service for a while.
- One or more of your linked devices are still actively using Signal and connecting to the service.
What do I need to do?
Under ideal circumstances, the process itself should be simple and straightforward:
- Find the phone that you originally used to register for Signal.
- Turn the phone on and install the latest Signal update (e.g. from the App Store or Play Store).
- Signal releases expire after 90 days, so charging a phone that has been sitting in a drawer and immediately trying to launch an old version of Signal won't work.
- Launch the latest Signal update on that phone and let it connect to the service.
- Please note that you may see errors in some of your chat threads if your primary device has been disconnected from the Signal service for a while.
- Keep Signal open on the phone for a few minutes.
- Close and relaunch Signal on the linked device. If your phone was successfully able to update and connect to the service, you should no longer see the banner.
What if I don't do this, or I no longer have access to that phone, or I have since uninstalled Signal from the original primary device?
You may need to reinstall and register for Signal using an up-to-date version of the application. Some new Signal features require all devices linked to your account to be updated, including the phone you used to sign up for Signal. If you don't update your primary device, your account may not be able to take advantage of the latest functionality — and your account could be deactivated in the future if your primary device falls far enough behind.
How can I ensure this doesn't happen again?
Please periodically launch Signal on your phone and ensure that it remains up-to-date. Some features can only be enabled if every device on your account supports the latest updates and improvements, and this simply isn't possible when the primary device hasn't been used in a long time.
Why does this matter?
Falling behind on the latest features and improvements affects everyone you talk to as well. Keeping Signal up to date across all of your devices helps protect the people you care about by ensuring that all of the latest features and security improvements are available to them whenever they communicate with you.
We are grateful for your understanding, and we apologize for any inconvenience.