Signal is expanding its linked-device system beyond computers and iPads, allowing people to attach another Android phone or iPhone to the same account. The change means a second handset can send and receive messages without being registered as a separate Signal account. The original phone still serves as the primary device. The rollout also brings Android tablets into the same linking system.
The feature began rolling out on August 4, 2026, in Signal 8.20 for Android and 8.22 for iPhone and iPad, according to The Verge. Signal's updated support page now lists desktop computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets and Android phones as eligible linked devices. An account may have as many as five linked devices.
Adding a Phone Starts on the New Device
The extra phone must be linked during the registration screen shown after Signal is first installed or reinstalled on that handset. Instead of registering it as the account's primary phone, the user selects the option to link a device. That choice displays a QR code on the new handset.
On the primary phone, the user opens Signal Settings, goes to Linked devices and chooses Link a new device. Signal then asks for the phone's biometric check or its normal unlock code, not the Signal PIN, before opening the scanner. Scanning the QR code authorizes the new phone to join the account.
Once connected, the added handset can display and answer new messages alongside the other devices on the account. During setup, Signal also offers a choice: transfer message history or begin without it. The transfer can include all chats and the most recent 45 days of media, and The Verge describes the copied history as end-to-end encrypted.
The synchronization choice separates old material from messages that arrive after linking. Selecting the transfer brings the existing conversations and the available media window onto the new phone. Declining it leaves that earlier history behind, while the handset can still participate in the account from that point forward. Signal presents the choice separately for every new device, so adding one phone does not automatically copy history to every place where the account is active.
Multi-phone support does not remove the account's primary-device role. Signal says that phone must connect to the service at least once every 30 days. If it does not, attached devices are disconnected. A linked device is also removed after 45 days without activity.
The five-device cap covers the whole linked list, including computers and tablets; it is not a separate allowance for five extra phones. Relinking requires access to the registered primary device. The setup choice about history has a separate consequence: if a user initially declines the transfer and later changes course, Signal says the linked app must be reinstalled so the transfer option appears again. These limits make the feature a way to extend one account, not a method for abandoning its primary handset.
Signal says communications remain private on every linked device. Users can review the full device list from the primary phone and remove an entry they no longer recognize or use. That control matters when an additional handset is shared, misplaced or replaced, because each linked phone becomes another place where the account can be opened.
Tablet Support Arrives Before the Interface Is Finished
The same update adds support for Android tablets and includes interface changes intended for larger screens and foldable phones. Signal told The Verge that the work made tablet support possible, but it also described the Android large-screen design as still under development. Optimization for the Chromebook version is continuing as well.
For people carrying two phones, the immediate change is narrower and more concrete: one Signal identity can now operate on both handsets while keeping the existing encrypted linking process. The key checks are the app version, the five-device ceiling and continued access to the primary phone. None of those conditions is replaced by the new multi-phone option.