Signal on Android: what Google Play reviewers complain about
We classified the 300 newest English-language Google Play reviews of Signal Private Messenger (by Signal Foundation) in the US store, dated 18 October 2026 to 23 October 2026. Average rating in this sample: 4.27★. Its all-time Google Play rating is 4.5★ from 2.9M ratings. 34 reviews (11%) contained a complaint; the biggest theme was bugs (88% of complaining reviews).
Star ratings in this sample
| Stars | Reviews | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 5★ | 214 | 71% |
| 4★ | 26 | 9% |
| 3★ | 16 | 5% |
| 2★ | 16 | 5% |
| 1★ | 28 | 9% |
Complaint themes
| Theme | Reviews | Share of complaints | Avg severity (0–3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bugs | 30 | 88% | 2.2 |
| Feature requests | 10 | 29% | 2.0 |
| Performance | 9 | 26% | 2.0 |
| UX / design | 3 | 9% | 2.0 |
A review can count in several themes, so shares add up to more than 100%.
Top issues, ranked by reviews × severity
- Fix login / account access: 12 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.4/3. What to do: Audit the sign-in flow (SSO, password reset, verification emails) on the latest version; add clear error messages.
“it's really hard to receive verification code, like you cannot uninstall the app or else it's really hard to log in again. I hope they have few options on how to recover an account. Already emailed the Signal support too but still no response. I hope they see…” (1★, v8.31.2, 2026-10-19) - Fix notifications: 6 complaining reviews, avg severity 1.8/3. What to do: Check notification delivery and let users control frequency in settings.
“Messages are being delivered in a few hours, or even days, unless you are actively in the chat. Sometimes, there are no notifications about new messages at all, so one needs to go and check every single chat.” (2★, v?, 2026-10-19) - Speed up loading: 4 complaining reviews, avg severity 1.9/3. What to do: Profile cold start and the slowest screens on older devices; cache content.
“slow sending voice messages after update on 10/7 after a more recent update they still have not fixed the issue with slow voice messages taking forever. this used to be instant what gives?!” (3★, v8.31.2, 2026-10-20) - Stop data / progress loss: 3 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.5/3. What to do: Reproduce sync and restore paths; add server-side backup and a visible "restore" option.
“A mostly good app, but I hate that you have to manually set the app to also automatically back up your messages over cellular data. I REALLY wish that once you sign up, the app automatically & continuously backs up your messages. I had to uninstall and reinsta…” (2★, v8.31.2, 2026-10-19) - Fix features broken by the latest update: 2 complaining reviews, avg severity 2.4/3. What to do: Add regression tests for the features users name in these reviews before the next release.
“its not working in my S25 ultra after the latest software update. Not able to register my phone number nor able to get QR code to transfer chats from my previous android device. its like the app have stopped every function.” (2★, v8.31.2, 2026-10-19)
Google Play vs App Store
| Google Play (Android) | App Store (iOS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews in sample | 300 | 300 |
| Dates | 2026-10-18 – 2026-10-23 | 2025-12-18 – 2026-10-22 |
| Avg stars in sample | 4.27★ | 3.77★ |
| Reviews with a complaint | 11% | 25% |
| Biggest complaint theme | Bugs | Bugs |
Both samples use the same AI classifier. The iOS sample comes from Apple's public review feed across several storefronts and can cover a longer period, so compare themes rather than exact percentages.
Signal App Store complaints (iOS)
Rating by app version
| Version | Reviews | Avg stars | Share with a complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.32.2 | 38 | 4.1 | 18% |
| 8.31.2 | 153 | 4.3 | 12% |
| 8.30.3 | 38 | 4.7 | 0% |
| 8.29.3 | 5 | 4.2 | 20% |
Versions with fewer than 5 reviews in the sample are left out.
The same report for your Android app
Up to 600 recent Google Play reviews in up to 10 languages, classified into 7 themes and 18 specific issues, with severity, version trend, real quotes and 10 ranked fixes. PDF by email within 24–48 h.
Google Play report – €19 €9 iOS + Android bundle – €29 €15 Free check
Launch prices until 30 Nov 2026 or the first 20 orders (then €19 / €29 bundle).
Method and limits
Reviews were collected once from the public Google Play listing (newest first, US store, English) with the open-source google-play-scraper library, then each review was classified by an AI model into 7 themes and 18 specific issues with a severity of 0–3; individual labels can be wrong, so check the quotes. Big apps get hundreds of reviews a day, so this is a snapshot of a few days, not the app's full history. Generated 24 October 2026. Not affiliated with Signal Foundation or Google.
More Google Play complaint reports
- Discord on Android (38% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Messenger on Android (14% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Snapchat on Android (17% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Telegram on Android (37% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Truecaller on Android (10% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- WhatsApp on Android (16% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- Gemini on Android (10% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
- SwiftKey on Android (30% of 300 reviews with a complaint)
All Google Play reports · All app complaint reports
FAQ
What do Android users complain about most in Signal?
In the 300 newest US Google Play reviews (2026-10-18 to 2026-10-23), the most common complaint theme was bugs (88% of complaining reviews), and the top specific issue was “fix login / account access” (12 reviews).
How many Signal Google Play reviews are negative?
34 of 300 recent reviews (11%) contained a complaint. Average rating in this sample: 4.27★.
Do iPhone or Android users complain more about Signal?
In our samples, 11% of recent Google Play reviews and 25% of recent App Store reviews contained a complaint. The samples cover different periods, so the gap is a signal, not a precise measurement.